Since last year, the Chinese film market has shown a strong recovery trend. Films with diverse themes are enriching the market supply, and the market ceiling for genre films continues to rise. At the same time, it should also be noted that the current film industry has insufficient production capacity and an unstable revenue structure. Real problems such as improvement and weak box office growth.
At the opening forum of the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival held on June 16, managers from domestic and foreign film companies and well-known filmmakers shared their latest thoughts and unique insights with their Chinese and foreign counterparts. Faced with the rapidly changing aesthetic opinions of audiences, the technological revolution brought about by artificial intelligence, and the urgent need for domestic films to go overseas, practitioners have shown varying degrees of anxiety and excitement. Opportunities are always present along with challenges.
Confrontations and heated debates among filmmakers have always been the most common scene at the Shanghai International Film Festival Golden Goblet Forum. The more drastic changes the industry undergoes, the more important it becomes for the exchange of information and the collision of ideas.
What will it take to bring the audience back to the theater?
One of the characteristics of the film industry in the past three years is that the value proposition and aesthetics of audiences have changed extremely rapidly. Audience preferences change every six months to a year, and film production cycles typically last two to three years. Li Jie, president of Alibaba Pictures, said that in the past, audiences seemed to be less interested in some genres and themes that the industry was optimistic about, while some suspense and crime genres with obvious market ceilings have become very popular in the past two years. “I believe many companies feel the same way. I don’t know what kind of movie I should make for the audience.”
How can film companies catch up with the short-term changes in movie viewing by audiences in a relatively long production cycle? Li Jie believes that the key to the solution lies in finding movies that can truly resist cyclicality. In his opinion, the biggest difference between movies and short videos, dramas, and variety shows is the audio-visual "movie feel", and this experience is irreplaceable. In the past few years, due to business pressure and other issues, the number of films with a "movie feel" has decreased, and large-scale and industrialized films can bring audiences back to the cinema; at the content level, compared to films with fictional themes, it has more to do with individual destiny Movies that are related to themes, feelings of family and country, and resonance of the times are more able to arouse the audience's emotional resonance. Wang Changtian, chairman of
Light Media, said that the current film genre structure is not rich enough. For example, animated films and science fiction films account for a low proportion of the total box office of the film market. These two types of films will be the focus of Chinese filmmakers in the future. direction, has greater growth potential. Currently, Enlight Media maintains an output of three animated films per year. Wang Changtian revealed that in terms of science fiction movies, Enlight is currently jointly developing the movie " three-body " with Trisolaris Universe, directed by Zhang Yimou, and has entered the early preparation stage.
According to Wang Jian'er, chairman of Shanghai Film Group, it is difficult to achieve sustainable development of China's film industry by relying solely on box office revenue, and it is inconsistent with market rules. IP development should be strengthened to break industrial barriers. Shanghai Film Studio recently announced that the first animated film "The Summer of Little Monsters" developed based on "Chinese Tales" will be scheduled for next summer. It is hoped that by expanding the IP business track, it will leave more room for the artistic value of the film. .
Bona Pictures Chairman Yu Dong believes that film creation is inseparable from four elements: business, art, technology and humanities. In the past ten years, Bona Pictures has produced many main theme movies, from " Outsmarting Tiger Mountain " to " Operation Mekong ", and then from " Chinese Captain " to " Changjin Lake ", Combining themes and genres, incorporating artistic expression, taking into account humanistic feelings, we strive to achieve an upgrade in the scale of film production and a breakthrough in new technology.
Go out and actively participate in world film exchanges
Regarding how China can move from a major film country to a powerful film country, many practitioners said that whether it is production or distribution, Chinese films need to "go out" more and actively participate in world film exchanges. .
Yu Dong believes that we can respond to the audience's demand for new content by creating overseas stories of Chinese films. Bona Pictures is currently developing stories about Chinese entrepreneurs on Wall Street and intelligence agents fighting spies on hidden fronts overseas.In his view, international expression can help Chinese films continue to expand their influence in overseas markets after making profits in the local market.
"Chinese companies and Chinese filmmakers must participate in the cycle of world movies with an active and open attitude and understand the pattern and ecology of world movies. This way, they can have more words to say when negotiating with international production companies, directors and actors in the future. "The president of Chinese Pictures Ying Xujun said that among the films invested and controlled by Chinese Pictures owners, the " megalodon " series has achieved great results with the model of cooperation between Chinese control and international resources. The box office performance is eye-catching, and it is currently in the overall development of the third to fifth parts; "Decryption", which is scheduled to be released this summer, is adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Mai Jia. It was shot entirely with IMAX cameras and adopted an international creative lineup. In Ying Xujun’s view, equality, free and open communication are the keys for Chinese films to go global.
Tokyo International Film Festival Program Director Naozo Ichiyama said that the international market has been undergoing some changes in the past two years, and more and more audiences are willing to accept film works from different cultural backgrounds and seek fresh artistic elements. In his opinion, this is a good opportunity for the development of Asian films, but for creators, there is no need to think about whether to face the international market in the future at the moment of creation, but they need to sincerely express their artistic feelings , handing over the results to the audience. "Looking back at the Chinese films that were very successful internationally in the past, most of them presented the beautiful scenery of China and had a good artistic sense. But why is it so difficult for most contemporary Chinese commercial films to succeed internationally? Maybe except for some scenery In addition, we also need more elements about family and society, some common emotions and real images.”
Fernando Juan Lima, chairman of the Matabrata International Film Festival in Argentina, also agreed with Ichiyama Naozo. the opinion of. In his opinion, if you think about "going overseas" when creating, you may lose the soul of film creation. What is important is the sincerity of creation. "China has a very unique perspective and a very long culture. I think this is the cornerstone for the success of Chinese films. In the creative process, we need to focus on ourselves and be able to contact some major distributors when it comes to distribution and screening. organization, successfully allowing the film to enter the international market. "
" The Gods Part 1 , which achieved a box office of over 2.6 billion yuan last summer, will be released in Europe this summer. Director Wu Ershan said that this was something he had never expected before. "When I was creating it, I hoped to make a mythological epic for the Chinese audience to re-understand our history, culture and precious spiritual wealth, and to gain resonance from the Chinese audience. ". When communicating with audiences from other countries, many viewers said that they were moved by the father-son love in the story, "I think human emotions are interlinked. If we are moved, audiences from different cultures, different nationalities, and different regions around the world can They will also be moved." Wu Ershan said that he hopes to faithfully express the spiritual world and emotional life of the Chinese people. "In comparison, I am more concerned about how we find the 'starting point' for going out."
Artificial intelligence, the biggest variable in the film industry?
Innovation has always been the direction of filmmakers' efforts. At the beginning of this year, Vincent video tool Sora was launched. Filmmakers used Sora to create short films with different themes. The film industry was shocked by the potential of AIGC (artificial intelligence generated content). At present, film companies are actively exploring and applying AIGC technology. So, what impact will artificial intelligence technology have on film production? Will it change the core operation of the film industry? Practitioners shared their respective observations and reflections.
Li Jie believes that from the creative end to the production end, aigc will become a tool to improve efficiency and reduce costs in the next three to five years, but it will not change the essence of creation. “Films are based on creativity and creators. Art, all technology is for our use."
Wang Changtian believes that there is no need to have excessive expectations or panic about AI at the moment. “Currently, mainstream film workers are already using AI, but in actual application, it is far from meeting the needs of movie-level works. The pictures produced by AI reach The requirement to show it on the big screen may take another two or three years.” In his view, AI may subvert many industries, but it will be difficult to subvert movies. Movies are based on creativity, and creative instructions are issued by humans. "AI is a production tool that produces spiritual products that humans need. This is a very complex system engineering. AI can input text and generate a video, but the generation lasts for two hours, is constantly reversed, has human expression, and has emotional changes. "It is currently impossible to create works like this."
In Wang Jianer's view, AI is not just a tool, it may also become a creative partner. In the process of communicating with young people who use AI to create, he found that AIGC is uncontrollable. For example, when generating an image, sometimes the desired result is not obtained, but an unexpected image is generated, which instead brings new ideas. creative inspiration.
Ying Xujun believes that before artificial intelligence awakens, it will provide more tool-based assistance. This is because Vincent Video technology has not yet reached a high level of stability and has not had a strong impact on the film and television industry for the time being. “But this God will surely come”. Judging from the history of film development, the arrival of every new technology initially brought fear, but then brought positive impact to the industry. From television, the Internet to AI, the process is similar.
According to Ying Xujun, the tooling of AI is actually a process of popularization and democratization of film and television creation. In the past, film and television creation technology was in the hands of a few film workers. With the blessing of AI, more ordinary people can participate in the creative process. The emergence of smartphones has driven everyone around the world's enthusiasm for video shooting. From short videos to short dramas, AI has allowed more people to participate in film and television creation, creating more possibilities. "Technological development will not only bring about changes in content creation, but also spawn more business models, which will ultimately bring expansion and improvement to the film and television industry."
(This article is from China Business News)
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