"Cinematic feeling" has become a hotly discussed topic among film critics in Shanghai. Some people praised "The Good Thing" for its use of techniques such as lens segmentation and sound montage, making it the most cinematic domestic film in recent times. Some people also praised

The "movie feel" has become a hot topic among film critics in Shanghai. Some people praise the use of techniques such as lens segmentation and sound montage in "好物", making it the most cinematic domestic film in recent times. Some people also praised Kore-eda Hirokazu's " Like Father Like Son ", which was released in mainland China theaters after 10 years, "This is a movie with a cinematic feel."

The movie market has declined this year, and it just exceeded the 40 billion mark not long ago. To attract audiences to watch movies in theaters, the cinematic feel has become a key factor, and it is also an issue that creators are urgently thinking about. "The Princess of the Tang Dynasty", which was recently completed at the Chedun Film and Television Base in Shanghai, is an opera film that also places great emphasis on enhancing the cinematic feel.

Xu Chunping, the film producer and vice president of Shanghai Film Group, said at the filming site of "The Imperial Concubine of the Tang Dynasty" that Shanghai Film has shot 6 Peking Opera films in the past 10 years. "The Princess of the Tang Dynasty" has more shots than traditional opera films, and is also the first opera film to apply AI technology to filming. "The purpose of this is to enhance the cinematic feel."

movie is a light and shadow art

movie "The Imperial Concubine of the Tang Dynasty", which is jointly produced by Shanghai Film (Group) Co., Ltd. and the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre, and co-produced by Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts . It is adapted from the stage version of the Peking Opera "The Imperial Concubine of the Tang Dynasty". The main cast of the film comes from the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre, led by Mei Qingyi Shi Yihong , Yang Pai Laosheng Li Jun , and co-starred by Chen Shaoyun, Anping, Xi Zhonglu, Yang Donghu and others. As the main producer, Shanghai Film Industry has also sent out elite personnel, including director Liang Shan, cinematographer Huang Lian, art artist Wu Jiakui and other filming teams, all of which are from Shanghai Film Group.

Light is very important when it comes to film shooting. In the previous phenomenal drama "Flowers" produced by Shanghai Film Studio, director Wong Kar-wai's meticulous lighting techniques left many viewers with endless aftertaste, giving the drama a cinematic quality. In "The Imperial Concubine of the Tang Dynasty", focusing on lighting and lighting technology is also an important way for the film to enhance its cinematic feel.

"Opera actors habitually perform in one direction, commonly known as the 'fourth wall', but this can cause trouble with lighting. In a feature film, if you shoot two people talking to each other, one person's light will look better, and the other person's light will look better. The light will get worse." Director Liang Shan said that during the filming, he will take into account the performance habits of the opera actors and also take into account the lighting needs. "I found a way to suit him and me. Overall, meeting It's a bit biased, but it's within the audience's acceptance level, and the lighting will look good. We asked the background to be darkened and the actors to be lit up, hoping to capture their most beautiful looks."

"The Princess of the Tang Dynasty" filming site

No. For the first time, Li Jun, who played the role of Tang Minghuang in a filming collaboration with a film studio, found that the feeling in the camera was completely different from that on the stage. "We used to design scenes according to the actions on the stage, but movies use lenses to tell stories, and we have to do it according to the director's needs and requirements. Movies have long shots, medium shots, and close-ups, and some figures are not used. Sometimes We had to cry three or four times during an emotional scene, and we gradually fell in love with the camera.”

"The stage space is limited, and some things can only be imagined by the audience, but movies can present them." Shi Yihong, who plays Yang Guifei, was deeply impressed by the exquisite scenery of the movie. In the scene where Huaqing Pool bathes, the stage performance is usually just played. A little dry ice and a dance can be used to express it, but in the movie "The Princess of the Tang Dynasty", the romantic atmosphere of layers of gauze is created on the scene, and light and shadow are used to create the looming female beauty.

The filming scene of "The Royal Concubine of the Tang Dynasty"

When Emperor Tang Ming missed Yang Guifei, he seemed to have really returned to Maweipo and saw the beauty standing under the pear tree. He stretched out his hand to touch her but couldn't. During the filming, both Li Jun and Shi Yihong were very moved. "This can only be accomplished with film technology. I believe that with the later addition of AI, it will be further improved and make up for the shortcomings on the stage." Shi Yihong said.

Looking for inspiration from "Song of Everlasting Regret"

"The Princess of the Tang Dynasty" is also the first movie to combine AI elements with Peking Opera. The film started shooting on November 10th and was completed on November 30th. AI and special effects technology played an important role. Xu Chunping introduced that the filming of the film insisted on using Peking opera as the mainstay and movies as a supplement. On the premise of retaining the original stage art, it paid attention to using the lens language of the film to present a more beautiful and better audio-visual experience for the stage art.

Director Liang Shan’s debut film won the Best Director Award at the Cairo International Film Festival. He is also a director who has loved listening to Peking Opera since he was a child. "I admire these actors from the Shanghai Peking Opera Theater from the bottom of my heart. During the filming, they were well-trained, and the beauty of their gestures seemed to be extraordinary, and their orderliness was so high that it was difficult to disrupt them."

《 The filming scene of "The Imperial Concubine of the Tang Dynasty" was the first time for

to direct an opera film. He was deeply impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the Peking Opera actors. There was a scene that required a close-up of a soldier falling to the ground. The actor's natural performance and real kung fu impressed the entire camera team, and he was just a supporting actor. When filming the scene of drumming and dancing in the Liyuan, actors from the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe and Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe were playing guns, knives, and other acrobatic characters in the background. The scene was as lively as a Spring Festival Gala. When director Xie Jin was filming a certain movie, the vendors on a street were all professional actors from the Hunan Provincial Theater. Their natural performances brought a lively sense of life to the movie. "I also felt this kind of happiness during this filming. We only have small roles in any scene, and there are no small actors."

The stage version of "The Princess of the Tang Dynasty" is performed by Peking Opera The artist Mei Baojiu collaborated with the Shanghai Peking Opera Company to create the opera. Screenwriter Weng Sizai, composer Yang Nailin and others adapted it from Mr. Mei Lanfang's "The Story of Taizhen" and "The Drunken Concubine". It has the classical beauty of Mei School Peking Opera. , and has a strong sense of modern aesthetics. The film makes appropriate changes to the Peking Opera script to make the plot more compact and coherent, and at the same time highlights the expressive power of film art.

The filming scene of "The Princess of the Tang Dynasty"

"The source of these works is actually Bai Juyi's long narrative poem "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", which is also the most aesthetic code of our movie." Liang Shan from " Song of Everlasting Sorrow" l5" found many elements to enrich the details of the setting and props. For example, when Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty missed Yang Guifei, "The fireflies in the evening palace are thinking quietly, and the solitary lamps are exhausted before they fall asleep." The morning bells and evening drums, the flowing fireflies, the aging Jiao Fang Ajian, and the fallen leaves all over the floor have all been transformed into visual expression means of the film. In Liang Shan's view, "beauty" is the basic requirement of this movie. The rise and fall of dynasties and beautiful love leave the current audience space to think. After the film is released, the audience may wish to follow "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" to decode it.