Chinanews client, Beijing, October 3 (Reporter Zhang Xi) There is a thousand Hamlet in one thousand people.
What about Jiang Ziya?
In many people's minds, mentioning Jiang Ziya will always think of a gray-haired, old-fashioned image.
After all, in "The Romance of the Gods", he had been 80 years old when he met King Zhou Wen, and because of this he became a legend of "I am not old age".
But in the movie "Jiang Ziya", the image of a middle-aged cool uncle is presented.
"Jiang Ziya" poster
On October 1, according to Maoyan data, the box office of the animated film "Jiang Ziya" in Mainland China reached 145 million yuan on the first day, breaking the first day box office record of animated films in the mainland film market.
As of 19:50 on the 2nd, the box office of the film reached 636 million, leading the National Day file.
Some people say that this is the best-looking movie on the National Day file, but some people say that they didn’t make it clear.
Recently, film director Cheng Teng accepted an exclusive interview with reporters and interpreted the story behind the film.
Why is the middle-aged Jiang Ziya?
The background of the movie "Jiang Ziya" is set after the Conferred God War. Kunlun disciple Jiang Ziya led the gods to defeat the fox demon, overthrew the brutal Shang Dynasty, won the victory in the Conferred God War, and was about to be named the leader of the gods.
At the peak moment, he was demoted to the mortal world due to a short period of time, lost his supernatural power, and was cast aside by the world. In order to return to Kunlun, Jiang Ziya embarked on a journey. In the end of the movie, Jiang Ziya found himself in the ruins after the war. Discovered the truth of everything back then.
Why is the middle-aged Jiang Ziya?
As a tenth-level fan of "The Romance of the Gods", director Cheng Teng believes that there are two types of immortals, one is the "child of heaven" like Nezha or Monkey King. No matter how hard they encounter, they can rely on a strong self. Personality and consciousness to solve problems.
The other category is ordinary people like Jiang Ziya, who work hard, and eventually become immortals.
"Jiang Ziya" poster
Cheng Teng is a very young director, but he has a certain reputation in the industry.
He once worked for the top animation company American DreamWorks, and won the 41st American Student Oscar Silver Award for his short animation "The Sky is Beyond". He was the first Chinese to receive this honor.
In Cheng Teng's view, the process of Jiang Ziya being demoted to the mortal world is very similar to that of college students entering society just after graduation.
"Entering a brand new cultural system will be culturally shocked. Many people will feel lost because they cannot find themselves."
Therefore, Cheng Teng feels that the middle-aged version of Jiang Ziya will make it easier for young people to have a sense of substitution, "If I am an old man, I am afraid that I will be separated from young people."
He hopes that through Jiang Ziya's story, young people can understand how to firmly believe in themselves and at the same time find a point of harmony with society.
Director Cheng Teng Picture source: Photo courtesy of interviewee
How to design Kunlun Mountain and Youdu Mountain?
In order to bring the story of Jiang Ziya's "Feng Shen" on the screen, Cheng Teng and his team prepared for nearly four years from 2016 to the end of 2019.
Recalling the past, Cheng Teng was full of emotion.
He recalled that when he entered the production stage in 2019, he basically couldn't guarantee to sleep every day, and sometimes even stayed up for a few days.
In the early stage, the entire creative team of Jiang Ziya had more than 30 people, and about 40 people at the peak.
When creating, the soldiers were divided into two ways, along the way, people explored plot development and character design, and painted these wild ideas.
Another passer-by is responsible for visual design.
Initially, the crew designed several different versions of Jiang Ziya, including the Luopo version and the Greedy version. "The Greedy version once thought that Jiang Ziya would steal money because he was hungry."
But after thinking about it, Cheng Teng was still reluctant to "modify" the original work. He simply designed Jiang Ziya as a cool uncle with a little obsessive-compulsive disorder, a little tightness, and a little non-human fireworks.
"Jiang Ziya" poster
Compared with character and plot design, scene design is more difficult.
As a very true Virgo director, Cheng Teng hopes that the final effect must conform to history.
But a realistic problem is that there are very few cultural relics unearthed in the late Shang and early Zhou Dynasties. How to find reference objects?
No way, in the end, Cheng Teng and his team simply looked for inspiration from Sanxingdui and recreated on top of it.
The first is Kunlun Mountain. Cheng Teng does not approve of the design sense of moving the earthly palace to heaven. After overturning and re-changing it more than 20 times, he finally achieved the amazing effect of the audience and believed that this was the effect of the heavenly palace.
Another design that Cheng Teng is proud of is Youdushan.
How to make the woods of Youdu Mountain Sinicize?
In the first version, Cheng Teng felt like a Nordic forest. After changing it to a bamboo forest, he felt that it was too conventional and uncreative. Finally, it was changed to that huge purple bamboo, which gave the audience a refreshing feeling.
"Jiang Ziya" poster
"Jiang Ziya" that children can't understand?
With Zhuyu ahead, "Jiang Ziya" has been compared with "Nezha" from the day it was launched.
Cheng Teng did not have such pressure. In his opinion, although they are all produced by Caitiaowu, they are of the same subject matter, but they are two completely different types of films.
Cheng Teng said that he is a "pleasant personality" and he cares more about whether he can get the audience's approval.
In fact, Cheng Teng's mood had fluctuated several times before the final National Day of "Jiang Ziya".
At the beginning of the year, "Jiang Ziya" announced the new year's day. At that time, Cheng Teng was excited and nervous, and felt a little pressure.
On January 23, in the face of the menacing new crown pneumonia epidemic, "Jiang Ziya" became the first film to be withdrawn during the 2020 Spring Festival.
The statement mentioned, "To make an animation is not a single person, but a group of people working together." The person who said this was Cheng Teng.
Looking back at the time, he said that it was a very right move and the best choice.
"Jiang Ziya" poster
While waiting for "Jiang Ziya" to be released again, Cheng Teng's mentality became more relaxed.
After 8 months, Cheng Teng's mood was calm after receiving the news of the re-fixing, and he was very Buddhist.
He said that his current most is curiosity, wondering whether this movie can be recognized by the audience.
According to Maoyan data, as of 19:50 on the 2nd, the box office of the film reached 636 million, leading the National Day file.
The Douban film scored 7.1, and its reputation was polarized. Some people found the visual effects to be amazing, showing a different Jiang Ziya.
But some people said that it is not suitable for children to watch, and the plot is too esoteric.
In fact, the movie reminder of "Jiang Ziya" is "Recommended for viewers over eight years old."
"Jiang Ziya" poster
In fact, at the beginning of creation, Cheng Teng never thought of making a movie like Disney Animation in the United States.
He said that he is finding a balance between author awareness and product awareness, but still hopes to keep his own ideas so that the audience can understand the values that the film wants to transmit.
This value is the slogan of the movie poster-"Use your own way to become a true god."
"I hope that the audience can see every careful thought I buried in the movie, whether it is Jiang Ziya, or the theme of his belief in self, or some stalks of "Feng Shen Yanyi", I hope the audience can get it." Cheng Teng Said so.
(Finish)