905 Movie Network Special Article Since the "Wandering Earth" series of movies came out, most viewers equate science fiction movies with big productions. However, in fact, as long as it is done skillfully, a low-budget science fiction film with no scenes, no special effects, and no cast can bring unexpected surprises.
In this episode of "Today's Film Criticism", producer and film critic Ji Shaoting is invited to talk with us about science fiction films that are "not afraid of poverty".
Quick Questions and Answers
Fifty thousand or one hundred thousand, can you also make a science fiction film?
In the audience's mind, science fiction films are always associated with terms such as "big production", "high cost", and "burning money". The production cost of "The Wandering Earth 2" was nearly 900 million yuan, and the production cost of "Avatar 2" was more than 2 billion yuan. The costs of these classic large-scale productions seem to confirm this view.
In fact, many low-cost science fiction movies can also bring a new movie-watching experience to the audience. According to the amount of investment, these low-cost science fiction films can be divided into three levels: ultra-poor, very poor and slightly poor.
"Ultra-poor" science fiction films (tens of thousands of dollars)
"Ultra-poor" science fiction films can be shot with a budget of tens of thousands of dollars. For example: The feature film "The Prime" directed by Sean Carruth. The film was written, starred and invested by director Shane Carruth himself. The production cost was less than US$7,000, but the box office revenue was US$425,000.
"Very poor" science fiction films (100,000 level)
The production cost of "very poor" science fiction films is around hundreds of thousands of yuan. For example, the filming of the film "This Man from Earth" directed by Richard Shenkman The cost was US$15,000, approximately RMB 110,000; and the filming cost of the film "The Night the Comet Came" was only US$50,000, approximately RMB 350,000.
"Micro-poor" science fiction films (millions to tens of millions)
The production cost of "micro-poor" science fiction films is about one million to ten million yuan. For example, the production cost of "Mad Max", known as the "wasteland style" masterpiece in the history of science fiction, is approximately 2.1 million yuan; the production cost of the domestic science fiction film "Space Exploration Editorial Department" directed by Kong Dashan in 2023 is approximately It's about 10 million yuan.
Advantages of low-cost science fiction films
Compared with large-scale science fiction films that focus on special effects rendering, low-cost science fiction films do not have the funds to "build spaceships" or travel to "different worlds" to explore, and lack visual effects selling points in visual presentation. , so they pay more attention to the depth of exploration in content, and are keen to set the story in a small space such as a living room, office, etc., to conduct a more in-depth and philosophical discussion of a scientific proposition. This also shows a more unique science fiction texture.
For example, the recently released movie "Monday" tells the story of office workers trapped in a "Monday" time loop. The only way to escape the loop is to fulfill the boss's dream. The film uses the form of science fiction to reveal the truth about the workplace. Employees are faced with stress and exhaustion, but the boss is at ease. The film has been widely discussed after its release. Perhaps for ordinary people, the wild imagination in life is more down-to-earth than the distant exploration of the universe. Small-cost science fiction films abandon the grand narrative of traditional science fiction films and will resonate with audiences closer to life.
"Saving Money" for Low-Cost Science Fiction Films
Low-cost science fiction films will inevitably encounter limitations during the production process. For example, in order to save costs, the creator of "Space Exploration Editorial Department" chose to use wood carvings to make the wreckage of the space return capsule. . In this regard, Ji Shaoting shared the "saving tips" of three low-cost science fiction works in the program:
Flexible settings
There are three common settings in science fiction movies, namely: parallel universe, time loop and the third kind of contact, also They are what we often call "alien".The expression of these three types of settings in the film can be adjusted according to whether the funds are sufficient. For example, in the famous one-day cycle movie "Groundhog Day", the protagonist cycles through a small town, while the relatively low-cost Japanese science fiction The movie "Monday Madness" narrows the scope of the cycle to an office.
The movie "Crazy Alien" invited the famous actor Xu Zheng to use a lot of special effects to play the role of a magical alien. An affordable version of this kind of setting is "Space Exploration Editorial" directed by Kong Dashan, in which the protagonists go looking for aliens. Although no aliens appear in the entire film, it still has a unique science fiction quality.
The exquisitely crafted script
The script and the actors' line skills are a very important part of the film's texture presentation. For example, the classic film "The Night the Comet Came" has a solid script and a huge amount of lines. It seems like a small conversation in life, but in fact it is very scary to think about it. The details of the heroine's phone call at the beginning of the film, from "I want to take you with me" "xxx is on the highway" becomes "xxx is taking me on the highway", implying that the universe is in chaos due to electromagnetic interference.
Pre-production art
The production of low-cost science fiction movies requires "spending money wisely", especially in terms of art design and rendering. For example, the movie "Ex Machina" spent most of its funds on the design of the internal structure of the AI robot's body. The translucent body revealed a complex mechanical structure, which brought unexpected visual shock to the audience. The film also won the 88th Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
The creative limitations and prospects of domestic low-cost science fiction films
Since the hit release of "Space Exploration Editorial Department" in 2023, the production of domestic low-cost science fiction films seems to have entered a stagnant state. Is it that the creator of the movie has too high a vision, or that his creative ability has not kept up? In this regard, Ji Shaoting believes that both creators and the industry have corresponding problems.
On the one hand, the ability of creators in the entire industry is relatively weak. Directors like Kong Dashan who have rich on-set experience and a deep understanding of science fiction are currently relatively rare.
On the other hand, the vigorous development of low-cost science fiction films depends on the basic development of the entire film industry. Only when the soil of the entire film and television industry is more fertile and the industrial base is greatly improved can low-cost science fiction films have a broader creative space. .
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