At the beginning of November, the 2019 China Science Fiction Conference was held in Beijing. The "2019 China Science Fiction Industry Report" released by the conference shows that China's science fiction industry has achieved rapid growth in 2018 and 2019, especially the output value of science fiction literature reading and science fiction film and television. The increase is calculated by "times." From the Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin's work "Three Body" won the Hugo Award, to the domestic science fiction movie "The Wandering Earth", to the bursting of the 2019 China Science Fiction Conference, is Chinese science fiction really ushering in the spring?
novels and movies drove the sci-fi boom
this Spring Festival, the movie "Wandering Earth" was shown hot, with a box office revenue of 4.65 billion yuan, making it a hot spring festival, and it has achieved a double harvest at the box office and word of mouth. At this sci-fi conference, the theme elements of "The Wandering Earth" remain hot. Outside the main venue, the reporter saw a steady stream of science fiction fans pouring into the theme exhibition area of this film. They got a close look at the driving suit worn by the protagonist Liu Qi, the space suit worn by Liu Peiqiang, and the magical artificial intelligence robot "Moss". "Wait for a batch of real props.
Xiao Li, a high school student from Beijing Eleven School, told reporters that he pays more attention to the scientific connotation behind the movie, such as how the earth can be driven by planetary engines. In the theme exhibition area, he saw the chronicle of the 100-year background of "The Wandering Earth", and also learned about a number of human exploration and research projects on space survival, such as the "Yuegong No. 1" fully enclosed survival experiment of Beihang University. "These have broadened my thinking. I think I can write a wonderful science fiction novel with the theme of "Moon Palace"." Xiao Li said.
There are also some elementary and middle school students who have begun to write sci-fi literature. At this Science Fiction Conference, the winners of the 6th National Middle School Students Science Fiction Composition Competition were announced. Of the 11 middle school students who won the first prize, 6 were from high schools in Beijing, accounting for more than half. Guo Jiayi, the first prize winner of
and a second-year high school student in the Second Affiliated High School of Beijing Normal University, told reporters that at the final scene, their task was to write science fiction literature in class. In two hours, she wrote an article "Mom, what do you listen to that voice", using a little girl's story to reflect the issue of the carrying capacity of the earth's environment, including "spacecraft", "search for new planets" and other content A bold science fiction. "In the past few years, "Three-Body", "Wandering Earth" and other works have made me have a strong interest in science fiction literature. I hope that I can write influential high-level science fiction literature in the future." Guo Jiayi said.
"Wandering Earth" challenges the Hollywood blockbuster
's "2019 China Science Fiction Industry Report" released at the Science Fiction Conference, shows that China's science fiction industry has grown rapidly in 2018, with a total output value of 45.635 billion yuan, an increase from the previous year's 14 billion yuan 3.26 times. Among them, the output value of science fiction reading increased by 1.83 times compared with the previous year, and the total output value of science fiction film and television increased by 1.61 times compared with the previous year. In the first half of 2019, the total output value was 31.564 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 1.38 times over the same period of the previous year.
is specific to the field of science fiction reading. In 2018, the total output value of China's science fiction reading market was 1.78 billion yuan, an increase of 83.5% compared with the previous year. In 2019, the output value of sci-fi reading continued to grow, and the total amount in the first half of the year has been close to 1.38 billion yuan, reaching 77% of the entire year of 2018. In terms of traditional publications, a total of 382 sci-fi books were newly published and republished throughout 2018, an increase of 65% compared with the previous year. In the first half of 2019, a total of 153 new and reprinted books were published. In addition, digital reading and audio reading are growing rapidly. According to the estimation of the overall market size, the total output value of science fiction digital reading in 2018 is about 430 million yuan, and the total output value of audio reading is about 60 million yuan.
In the past two years, leading science fiction films have changed the situation where foreign films dominate in the past. Domestic science fiction films have achieved extraordinary results and are gradually evolving into industry leaders. The total output value of the science fiction movie market in 2018 was 20.905 billion yuan, of which domestic science fiction films were 3.370.7 billion yuan. The output value of films released in the first half of 2019 has reached 17.233.9 billion yuan, and domestic science fiction films accounted for 6.856.5 billion yuan.
From an industrial perspective, the overall trend of the development of sci-fi movies in China last year and the first half of this year showed a significant increase in absolute box office and box office proportions. Hollywood sci-fi movies continue to dominate, but the emergence of domestic sci-fi movies such as "Wandering Earth" in the first half of this year has challenged Hollywood's box office dominance in terms of industry share, and the overall box office growth of sci-fi movies has also been large.Magnitude jumped.
Science fiction creation requires engineering knowledge.
Science fiction in China has risen rapidly in recent years, and one of its representatives is the science fiction writer Liu Cixin. His science fiction work "Three Body" won the Hugo Award, the highest in science fiction literature. This year's hit sci-fi movie "Wandering Earth" is also adapted from his short story. Many people say that it was Liu Cixin who pushed China's science fiction literature and even the science fiction industry to the forefront of the world's science fiction stage.
Regarding the development of Chinese science fiction, Liu Cixin told reporters that the current Chinese science fiction has shown signs of "leaping", but the spring has not yet ushered in, and there is still a long way to go. The prosperity of sci-fi movies requires a large number of sci-fi works to support them. The current number of sci-fi literary works in my country is far from enough to support a large industry and a large market. Among them, a very important reason is the lack of talents in sci-fi literature creation and sci-fi film and television screenwriters. In his view, sci-fi writers and screenwriters need talent and professional skills.
In recent years, Beijing Normal University, Southern University of Science and Technology and other universities have carried out the training of science fiction literature talents. In this regard, Liu Cixin agrees. He told reporters that my country still lacks science fiction writers and screenwriters. He hopes that more universities and scientific research institutions can set up relevant professional directions to increase the training of talents in this area. He said that a lot of knowledge in science fiction literature is more common sense, and the key is how to turn these scientific common sense into stories, which tests the level of screenwriters and authors.
In 1991, Professor Wu Yan of Southern University of Science and Technology opened the first undergraduate science fiction course in a Chinese university. In 2003, he established the first master science fiction research direction in China and promoted this direction to a doctoral research direction in 2015. Wu Yan also advocated increasing the training of science fiction talents, especially talents who can integrate film and television and literature, and talents with a background in literature, science and engineering, "a solid foundation in engineering knowledge, whether it is machinery, materials, or biomedicine , It is very useful for science fiction creation.”
multidisciplinary investment in science fiction industry operation
In addition to the training of science fiction creative talents, Wu Yan has also been concerned about the development of the entire Chinese science fiction industry. The "2019 China Science Fiction Industry Report" released at this year's Science Fiction Conference came from the team led by Wu Yan. From an industrial perspective, he also made suggestions.
Wu Yan said, driven by the government's industrial support, the distribution of China's science fiction industry is becoming rich and complete. In addition to reading, film and television, games, and peripheral products, science fiction theme amusement parks, science fiction exhibitions, and science fiction performing arts are also gradually developing. At the same time, the collaborative development of some sci-fi products related to current new technologies is gradually emerging, including virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, which are becoming more and more closely integrated with the sci-fi industry. These are all very good trends.
Wu Yan said that in the past five years, the continuous development of China's science fiction industry cannot be separated from the increase in government and local investment. In the past two years, Chengdu alone in Sichuan Province has invested more than 2 billion yuan in building a science fiction film and television Silicon Valley. "We look forward to this kind of investment in the future." Wu Yan said that in the next step, whether the government or practitioners in the sci-fi industry, they should pay attention to the application of various new technologies in the sci-fi industry. The components that are beneficial to the development of the science fiction industry in the research and development process are put into operation of the science fiction industry as soon as possible. At the
Science Fiction Conference, many experts proposed that the theoretical construction of science fiction itself and the development of basic education should be the foundation for the long-term development of the science fiction industry. It is not only the training of science fiction professionals, but more importantly, the seeds of science fiction are planted in all classes of society. In these areas, more input from the state, localities, enterprises, universities, research institutes and other levels is needed. The
reporter learned that, as a leader in the development of science fiction in Asia, Japan has produced countless classic science fiction animation, film, and literary works in the past few decades. This is inseparable from the science fiction awareness education of the whole society, especially the youth group. For example, at the Future Science Museum in Tokyo, many cutting-edge robots, rocket engines, neutron simulators and other equipment are open to young people. There are also professionals who provide voluntary explanations as volunteers, giving young people the wings of imagination.
