The National Comic Industrial Experiment of "Jiang Ziya"

　　China News Weekly reporter / Kui Yanzhang

　　Issued at 2020.10.5, Issue 967 of "China News Weekly"

　　Surrounded by snow and icebergs, Jiang Ziya wears a feather cloak and fishes by the lake.

He returned the fish he caught and released it to the water.

Afterwards, the camera switched to below the water surface, and the fish turned into an ice-blue phoenix in the water, flying past a huge stone axe underwater, crossing the water surface, and flying into the sky.

　　This is a scene from the animated film "Jiang Ziya".

As early as July last year, this movie attracted widespread attention from anime fans.

At that time, "Nezha" was released, and the egg at the end of the film was the trailer of "Jiang Ziya".

Later, as "Ne Zha" exploded, people's expectations for "Jiang Ziya" also soared. Many anime fans are looking forward to seeing another work similar to "Ne Zha" and imagining that these two works will meet Form a "shenzhen universe".

　　In fact, although the two films are both produced by Caitiaoya Pictures, the plots are not intrinsically linked, and the creative team is completely different.

Dumpling, the director of "Nezha", is a person who has outstanding personal talent and "deadly knocked over" during the long trough of domestic animation.

And "Jiang Ziya" is a work jointly completed by four directors. Three of them have worked under the American animation industry system for a long time. In this creation, they tried to transplant the American industrialized creative experience to the domestic animation industry. .

A different god

　　One night in 2016, Cheng Teng sat at his home in Los Angeles, struggling with one thing: Not long ago, he received a text message from his teacher and professor at Communication University of China Gao Weihua, inviting him to return to China to participate in the production of "Jiang Ziya".

He wanted to return to China, but he was a little bit reluctant to live a stable life in the United States, so he couldn't make up his mind.

　　At that time, Cheng Teng worked as a co-director at DreamWorks in the United States. He lived a stable and decent life, but he almost felt like it.

"The things I want to do that are partial to Chinese culture are difficult to release under the (DreamWorks) industrial system." Cheng Teng told China News Weekly.

For example, he once participated in a discussion about a scene where a couple sat on the eaves and watched the moon. Colleagues thought that lovers should face each other, but he felt that it was more meaningful for couples to look at the moon without looking at each other. This kind of cultural conflict cannot be resolved and it is difficult to convince. colleague.

　　Many years ago, he went to the University of Southern California to study for a master's degree, and then went to work in DreamWorks, which produced works such as "Kung Fu Panda" and "How to Train Your Dragon".

But when he received the invitation from his mentor Gao Weihua, the domestic animation industry had already shown a rising trend: animations such as "Quiba" and "Big Fish and Begonia" successively appeared on the theater line, and "The Return of the Great Sage" received nearly 1 billion yuan. Box office.

　　He was also interested in the subject of "Jiang Ziya" mentioned by the instructor.

"I am a fan of Conferring Gods. Jiang Ziya left a lot of blank space in "The Romance of Conferred Gods", which has a lot of room to play." Cheng Teng recalled "China News Weekly", "The other thing is that Nezha and Dasheng are very distinctive. Either rebellious or brave. But Jiang Ziya does not have such a strong personality, but he has wisdom. His path to becoming a god is actually closer to ordinary people, and he feels that this is a different, Chinese god."

　　That night, Cheng Teng was undecided whether to return to China, and another reason was to consider his wife.

His wife is not in good health, and the quality of life in Los Angeles is significantly higher than that in Beijing.

In the end, it was his wife who made the decision for him and asked him to return to China.

　　Cheng Teng returned to China to participate in the creation of "Jiang Ziya".

　　Judging from the timeline, "Jiang Ziya" is the postscript of "Feng Shen Yan Yi".

The story starts from the moment when the Conferred Gods War ended and Jiang Ziya stepped onto the Conferred God Stage.

Originally, this should be the highlight of Jiang Ziya's life, but he made a mistake at this time, was demoted to the mortal world, and fell into a period of confusion in life.

In Cheng Teng's view, Jiang Ziya at this stage is very much like a "community animal", tangled and looking forward and backward.

　　In addition, compared with "Feng Shen Yanyi", "Jiang Ziya" the biggest adaptation is the supporting role Shen Gongbao.

In Cheng Teng's view, Shen Gongbao is a bit similar to the "Phoenix Man" in the current context. He is self-motivated, but because of his origins, he is "racially discriminated" and not reused for his efforts.

In the original book, Shen Gongbao is an almost absolute villain.

But in the animation "Jiang Ziya", the team designed a character arc for Shen Gongbao, which turned him from an opponent of Jiang Ziya to a person who understood Jiang Ziya.

　　Cheng Teng was also a tangled person and had a long period of confusion.

Once, when he was studying animation at Communication University of China, the school’s evaluation system for students was very clear. He was among the best students in the Department of Transmission Painting.

Later, he went to the United States and found that in American universities, the evaluation system is very diverse. This made him feel uncomfortable and confused, and he didn't adjust his state until one or two years later.

Learn from the American animation industry

　　Before and after Cheng Teng returned to China, his friends Li Xia and Wang Xin who worked in the American animation circle also returned to China to join the "Jiang Ziya" team.

Li Xia was his classmate at Communication University of China. Like him, he went to the United States to study for a master's degree after graduation and stayed in work.

Wang Xin is much older than Cheng Teng.

Wang Xin went to the United States to study in the 1990s. As early as 2003, when 3D games were on the rise, he joined the Blizzard Game Animation Department, which had only more than 20 people. Before leaving his job and returning to China to participate in "Jiang Ziya", he had already served as the art director of the Blizzard Animation Department.

　　The "Jiang Ziya" team consists of 4 directors, in addition to the returnees Cheng Teng, Li Xia, and Wang Xin, there is also Li Wei.

Li Wei was the teacher of Cheng Teng and Li Xia when they were studying at Communication University of China. He once produced a short film called "My Master Jiang Ziya" and participated in the production of animations such as "Quiba" and "Begonia".

　　Since the team members have experience in the animation industry in China and the United States, in the process of making "Jiang Ziya", they tried to open up the creative mode of China and the West, transplant and integrate the experience of the American animation industry into the creation of domestic animation.

　　In China, animation production has always been director-centric.

The advantage of this method is that the director has absolute control over the entire film, and the work often has the director's personal style.

But there are also shortcomings. First, the talents of other people in the team are not easy to reflect; second, if the director fails, it will directly lead to the failure of the film.

In the United States, animation production is mostly producer-centered, and there is more teamwork in the process.

　　The "Jiang Ziya" team tried to adopt a working method similar to that of the United States.

Specifically: the animation is co-directed by four directors, and during the script development stage, five screenwriters will participate in the story polishing. After the story tone is determined, the storyteller and editor will participate in the discussion of the appropriate audiovisual language.

　　In addition, director Li Xia had an internship at "Pixar".

The team therefore borrowed from the "Inverted Pyramid" work model of "Pixar" in the work model: the director is no longer the absolute leader at the top of the tower, but at the bottom of the tower, which means more service.

The director needs to collect and balance the personal creativity of a large number of team members, and at the same time ensure that the creation proceeds in accordance with the established direction.

　　However, according to the experiment of the "Jiang Ziya" team, this method is not fully adapted to the current Chinese animation industry.

In the early production of "Jiang Ziya", the "inverted pyramid" mode was used for work, but in the later stage, the team changed the work mode back to the "rectangular pyramid" director-centric system.

"I personally think that in the current environment in China, it is not enough for directors to merely serve. In fact, they also need leadership and strong leadership and control." Wang Xin recalled.

　　In addition to trying to integrate with the American animation industry in terms of work mode, the team is also trying to find a way to not only use American technology, but also make the original Chinese flavor in terms of specific visual realization.

3D animation technology originated in the United States, and 3D animations such as "Kung Fu Panda" and "How to Train Your Dragon" are called "Mei Man".

2D animation is the most developed in Japan. "One Piece", "Naruto", Miyazaki's movies, etc. are called "Japanese Man".

If it is just a simple imitation, whether it is to make 3D animation or 2D animation, it is difficult to find the unique temperament of domestic animation.

　　The method used by Cheng Tenghe's team to produce "Jiang Ziya" is to first use 2D hand-painted methods to draw materials such as Chinese style animal hair, clothing and makeup, and then use 3D modeling technology to make it.

In the end, if the effect is ideal, the resulting animation will have both the stereoscopic effect of 3D animation and the characteristics of traditional Chinese temperament brought by hand-painting.

Rebuilding Zhou Dynasty

　　There are few domestic 3D animation movies.

Before "Jiang Ziya", the only well-known works were "Nezha" and "The Return of the Great Sage".

The box office of these two films is close to 1 billion yuan, and more than 5 billion yuan.

People are attracted to these two animations, to a certain extent, because of the dynamic characters and the dazzling fighting scenes under the 3D special effects.

　　In this regard, the subject of "Jiang Ziya" has a natural disadvantage.

Jiang Ziya is a tall, slender, stern character who is good at strategy rather than fighting, and is far less dynamic than Monkey King and Nezha.

"I often discuss with Cheng Teng, but we are all worried that Jiang Ziya is a bit awkward, right? He doesn't speak very much, and he doesn't have any expressions." Wang Xin recalled from China News Weekly.

　　The team tried two solutions. One was to spend a lot of energy on designing the interaction between Jiang Ziya and Jiang Ziya's supporting characters such as "Four Unsimilars" and "Little Nine" Shen Gongbao.

"With these lively roles, Jiang Ziya's coldness can be set off. This will make Jiang Ziya appear the most present in the entire movie, and his awkwardness and dullness will become meaningful." Cheng Teng told China News Weekly.

　　Another way is to spend energy polishing Jiang Ziya's micro expression.

"We will pay attention to things like tiny crow's feet. As an adult, he cannot be exaggerated crying. In East Asian movies, many cool images of uncles are those that convey emotions through subtle performances, such as Hayao Miyazaki's " "Red Pig"." Cheng Teng said.

　　The character image of Jiang Ziya, the team has designed 123 versions, "There are versions with magic changes, some exaggerated versions of Jiang Ziya, and there are also particularly realistic versions, like the historical version, and the coquettish and awkward Jiang Ziya. The last version we find is the best balance we feel."

　　Jiang Ziya's historical background is the overlapping period of Shang and Zhou, and there are very few architectural records in this period.

And if you use the ancient architectural styles of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, it will lead to obvious piercing.

　　In fact, in the original novel "The Romance of the Gods", Xu Zhonglin, a novelist born in the Ming Dynasty, failed to solve the problem of gangbang.

The writer Liushen Leilei once wrote an article to sort out a large number of details of the gangbang: King Zhou and Prime Minister Rong, who were born in the Shang Dynasty, wrote a seven-character poem that appeared in the Tang Dynasty after 1700; among the songs sung by Lei Zhenzi’s son is "Li Sao" Qu Yuan was born 800 years later; Li Jing’s official position was Chentangguan General Soldier, but General Soldier was an official position that only appeared in the Ming Dynasty 2500 years later.

　　"The audience didn't know what the world looked like at that time, but he especially knew what it didn't look like. So it must be both imaginative and believable." Cheng Teng said, they used the architectural traces in the ruins to be responsible to the team For reference, the building staff also invited experts from Linzi, Shandong to study the site of Jiang Ziya's tomb.

　　For scenes that are not in a large number of ancient books and documents, the team will try to fit the background of the times to imagine when restoring.

For example, the palace Xumizuo is relatively simple in design, but the base is taller to highlight the status of the royal family; the pillars of the palace are designed to be thicker to reflect the style, and the totem patterns involved also refer to the cultural relics of the year.

　　Originally, after 4 years of production, the film was scheduled to be released on the Spring Festival this year, but due to the epidemic, it was postponed to the National Day this year.

In a variety of official posters, one can often see the phrase "The Taigong returns, the first battle is to be a god."

To some extent, this is also the expectation of several directors who have brought the experience of the American animation industry to China.

China News Weekly, Issue 37, 2020

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