Ang Lee, 65, left three "fatal" questions

In fact, for Ang Lee, the high frame rate is not a challenge, but a restoration. Movies used the most economical and affordable 24 frames in the film era, but in fact it has long been unable to keep up with the times. But because few people have questioned the frame rate for more than a hundred years, 24 frames has become the law, and the sense of blur has become a sense of high-level.

Ang Lee said before: “I’m just not convinced why the digital age should imitate film.” In fact, Ang Lee was also a solid supporter of film before. Before filming "The Fantastic Drifting of Youth Pie", Ang Lee preferred film shooting. But what 3D brings to Ang Lee is doubt and incomprehension. In order to solve the ambiguity in 3D, Ang Lee started his journey of high frame rate. Compared with the controllable high cost of film, the high frame rate is like an uncontrollable high cost. The lack of sufficient technical support makes high frame rate production extremely expensive. Therefore, after "Billy Lynn's Midfield War", Ang Lee further experimented on the more dynamic "Gemini Killer". However, because of the "old-fashioned" way of telling, "Gemini Killer" has lost Ang Lee's consistent "depth" in the core of the story, and the entire technical innovation attempt based on this is naturally extremely risky.

In fact, from the result, Ang Lee failed. For Ang Lee, "Gemini Killer", which is more expensive than the previous one, may have a loss of 75 million US dollars. So will the "Battle of Manila" which is "raising money" start smoothly? As a boxing movie, a high frame rate will inevitably bring a smoother and more immersive viewing experience. You can imagine the ideal effect that "Battle of Manila" will achieve once it is filmed. But the failure of "Gemini Killer" made everything more uncertain. Ang Lee also said that Ang Lee needs a "big project" after "Billy Lynn". But now the effect of the "big project" is not even as good as "Billy Lynn", which is extremely lethal to Ang Lee. But Ang Lee is no longer an attempt or challenge for high frame rate, so Ang Lee may still shoot high frame rate movies in the future. Ang Lee, who has only experienced a "loss streak," whether the fundraising of "Battle of Manila" can meet expectations has become a question. If there is not enough funding, will "Battle of Manila" be good? Similarly, for the 120-frame technology, Hollywood itself is not cold about this technology, and Lee An’s high cost has not been exchanged for the high box office’s appeal to Chinese directors to a certain extent. It can be said that what Ang Lee is encountering now is a blow to the confidence of film workers all over the world in trying 120 frames. So, if 120 frames still cannot find a successful benchmark, will it become a special method for special scenes in the future? , for example, in racing and fighting scenes, through 120 frames to shoot part of the scene to highlight the sense of immersion. But will this small-scale application continue to promote the upgrade of movies? This has become difficult to say.

2

Is China's capital's ambitions to go abroad?

industrial logic.

In fact, behind the "Gemini Killer", the importance of Chinese capital has become self-evident. After the defeat of "Billy Lynn", Hollywood giants' confidence in Ang Lee began to weaken. in "GeminiAmong the producers of "Hitman", except for its distributor, Paramount, the rest of the companies are no longer Hollywood mainstream film and television companies.

A technology company with a Silicon Valley background and Chinese capital has become a firm supporter of Ang Lee. So for Chinese capital, besides Lee's "yellow skin", why should we firmly support it? For Fosun Films and Alibaba Pictures behind it, going overseas is an inevitable choice, which is beyond doubt. But what needs to be recognized is the current situation of going to sea. From the early capital acquisition to monolithic investment, in fact, no matter which one is an investment logic with a low rate of return. In contrast, the domestic market has a lot of room for imagination, whether it is introduction or operation. For Fosun, what actually yearns for more is the "return" of Ang Lee. So Zhang Zhao, who took up his new role at Fosun, kept asking Ang Lee if he would make a Chinese film in the future. In fact, there is a question here, that is, what exactly can Li Ang bring to the high degree of heading present in the Chinese film market? Obviously, relying on Ang Lee alone to make a Chinese-language drama, it is not easy to start with 3 billion. But Ang Lee’s "Oscar halo" plus 120 frames of technological innovation, can it reach 3 billion? It is inevitable for Fosun to make efforts in filming, and it is also inevitable to "innovate with Ang Lee". This is the "War of Manila" that determines Fosun's future position in the domestic market.

So, what does Ang Lee need for Ali? From the early investment in Tom's "Mission Impossible" series to the investment in Spielberg's Abelin, I got an Oscar film like "Green Book". The logic of Alibaba Pictures’ going overseas has changed from a “Chinese player” to a “Chinese partner”.

Obviously, Ali Pictures is also interested in the domestic market prospects of imported films. So, Ang Lee brought to Ali Pictures to a certain extent similar to Fosun’s needs, except that the “infrastructure” of Ali Pictures’ announcements and Ang Lee’s domestic “basic needs” are more suitable. But whether it is Fosun Films or Alibaba Pictures, it is actually the so-called "industrial capital" behind it. But what about other Chinese capital? What about Chinese capital that really "struggles" in the secondary market? Nowadays, Hollywood seems to be faced with the "old and new choice". The new is the "new" streaming media led by Netflix, Amazon and even Apple, and the old is the almost stagnant Hollywood super British blockbuster system. However, this "contradiction between the old and the new" is essentially a civil war. The super-British blockbuster is the lifeblood of Hollywood's "Big Five", and the possibility of Chinese capital among them is slim, and streaming media has no relationship with Chinese capital. So, at this stage, Chinese capital's position and sense of presence in Hollywood have changed a lot. So even if Chinese capital continues to advance into Hollywood, what will the investment in secondary commercial blockbusters bring? After Ang Lee's "loss streak", will most Chinese capital still dare to support fresher technologies through higher costs?

3

theater bottleneck what to do?

result theory.

For the general public, of course, it can be concluded, good is good or bad. After all, after spending nearly 200 yuan on movie tickets, all you deserve is a 200 yuan experience. But for practitioners, can the theory of consequence also be possible?

If the practitioners are the result, then the theater bottleneck or "theatre winter" will inevitably last longer. When was released in "Billy Lynn", there were only five pieces in the world that could show the full high-format version. Two of them in China were temporarily rebuilt, but these two screens contributed 18% of the domestic box office. In contrast, Hollywood's response was mediocre. When "Gemini Killer" was released, Paramount mobilized theaters to upgrade equipment early in the North American market. However, the response from the harvest is still mediocre, and the domestic Chinese film industry developed the CINITY system after "Billy Lynn". At the time of its release, there were already more than 30 screens available in China. global theaters are facing a great impact, so both North America and China are facing a "cinema winter." However, in terms of physical construction, Chinese cinemas have taken practical actions to change the bottleneck of cinemas. Before , both Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Pictures, and Fu Ruoqing, chairman of China Films, both tried their best to "mobilize." It is believed that theaters can only respond to market shocks by enhancing their theater effects, otherwise the theater business that has been operating for nearly two decades will face a greater impact. Unfortunately, the content of "Gemini Killer" did not match the audience's "supply and demand". This result is justIt is the "swing" of the film tube, after all, the cost of a CINITY system is around 5.5 million. Although the ticket price of the full version of the high-format first-tier cities reached nearly 200 yuan, the response from this time did not meet expectations.

"Billy Lynn" two high-format screens contributed 18% of the box office is a great temptation, but "Gemini Killer" obviously dampened the enthusiasm of the film tube to a certain extent, then whether the speed of upgrading equipment will be due to Did the result of "Gemini Killer" slow down?

If the theater is wobbly on the upgraded equipment, even if there is "Gemini Killer 2" in the future, most viewers will still see the "technological castration version", then isn't it a vicious circle? However, the theater itself is a profitable business, and the lack of sufficient profit space cannot "ethically kidnap" theater upgrade equipment, so the difficulties facing high-format movie viewing in the future are still huge. Only from an industrial point of view, it is inevitable for the theater to encourage upgrading. Only through the painful "run-in period" can we return to the virtuous circle. At least from the perspective of now, the cinema ecology will only get worse if it is contented with the status quo. The constant law of movies determines that the risk of cinema is increasing. For the industry, Ang Lee’s problems are more "fatal" than the results. It looks like a movie, but it's far more than that.