Chinanews client, Beijing, August 3 (Reporter Yuan Xiuyue Gao Kai) With the release of "White Snake 2: The Rise of the Green Snake", the slogan "The Rise of Guoman" was again mentioned.
As the sequel to "White Snake: Origin", "White Snake 2: The Green Snake" is still created by the original team and produced by chasing light animation and Ali Pictures, but it is a brand new upgrade from visual effects to worldview.
When time came to "Shui Man Jinshan", the white snake was killed by the Leifeng Pagoda, and the green snake was beaten into the Asura fantasy realm by Fahai.
The movie is no longer limited to ancient styles, but also opens up a modern fantasy world that is unbelievable.
The Green Snake rides a motorcycle, plays with a machine gun, and fights Fahai, becoming a "big heroine", an image closer to modern women.
According to the Beacon Professional Edition, the current box office of the movie is nearly 400 million, and the Douban score is 7.3.
How to make such a green snake?
A reporter from Chinanews.com chatted with Huang Jiakang, director of "White Snake 2: The Tribulation of the Green Snake", producer Cui Di, and co-founder Yu Zhou of Light-following Animation.
"White Snake 2: The Green Snake Tribulation" poster
Xiaoqing is more like a modern woman
Reporter: Why does the second part feature the green snake as the protagonist?
Huang Jiakang: We found that most of the film and television works of "The Legend of the White Snake" rarely feature Xiaoqing as the protagonist. This character is quite single.
But she is also a very important role. The relationship between her and her sister is worth exploring. The audience is also very interested in Xiaoqing, so we want to make the second story of Xiaoqing.
Xiaoqing is not the same as Xiaobai, Xiaobai is simpler and gentler, and Xiaoqing is more like a modern woman, daring to love and be ruthless, brave and independent.
Reporter: What is the source of inspiration for the second part?
Cui Di: In "The Legend of the White Snake", there is a passage about Xiaoqing practicing for many years in the Batu Caves in order to rescue her sister from Lei Feng Pagoda.
This is an inspiration. We want to put Xiaoqing somewhere, let her go through some hardships and save her sister, so we have the concept of Shura City.
Reporter: Some netizens said that the movie talks about "sisterhood is the right way." What do you think?
Huang Jiakang: Xiaoqing and Xiaobai have been together for a thousand years.
We generally say that it is sisterhood, but it may be beyond the scope of family relationships we understand.
There is a very important line in the first part. Xiaoqing said "I will always be with you". This is this inseparable emotion. I think it is Xiaoqing's core emotion.
What moved me most about this story is that not only Xiaoqing is looking for Xiaobai, but Xiaobai is also looking for Xiaoqing.
I think some netizens are a little misunderstood.
This story looks at things from Xiaoqing's point of view. She and Xiaobai are indeed very close emotions, but we do not deny the emotions between Xiaobai and Xu Xuan. There is no conflict between them.
"White Snake 2: The Green Snake Tribulation" stills
Hope young people have empathy
Reporter: How to adapt a classic IP like "The Legend of the White Snake"?
Huang Jiakang: "The Legend of the White Snake" has been circulating for thousands of years for its reasons, so when we adapted it, we hoped to keep its original taste.
The character setting cannot be changed, and the character and the relationship between the characters cannot be changed. We will see that the thousand-year-old Snake Demon, the "Qing Bai" sisterhood, and the setting of the opposition between Fahai and the Snake Demon have not changed.
But there is still a lot of room for this story. We hope to explore new stories and explore some of the concerns of contemporary young people with the current audience while the relationship between the characters remains unchanged.
Yu Zhou: Since the Tang Dynasty, generations of people have continued to interpret this story.
In our generation, it is meaningless to just repeat the stories told by the predecessors, so we have to tell new stories. The first part tells the prequel of "The White Snake", and the second part tells the postscript.
We talk to young people today, and hope that everyone will have empathy and a sense of substitution.
Reporter: Some people say that the second part is cyberpunk. What kind of exploration have you done in terms of visual style?
Huang Jiakang: The audience may be interested in presenting this story with a new perspective.
For example, make some cool visual styles, which are modern and in line with their aesthetics, but the core is still traditional.
We did not deliberately create this story for any style, but the other way around. We hope that the story and worldview are credible.
The story needs such a setting to be able to tell, it is not our love for certain elements.
"White Snake 2: The Green Snake Tribulation" stills
Each one is made with a lot of effort
Reporter: How do you view the development of domestic animation?
Huang Jiakang: I have been in the industry for about 20 years.
Twenty years ago, I saw the state of the entire industry, with more help for foreign processing and less originality.
I have participated in animations such as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Astro Boy", and I am also wondering why we didn't have the opportunity to make some traditional Chinese animations.
In the past, everyone did not know much about domestic animation, but in the past five to ten years, domestic animation has received a lot of attention and recognition, and we have also got more opportunities.
Although our development is relatively slow compared to foreign countries, we are catching up very quickly.
The situation is getting better and better, but the industry is still suffering. It can be said that it is using love to generate electricity.
It is a great thing that an animated film can be made. Many projects may be half done without funds and talents.
We spent a lot of effort to make each one, and it was under a lot of pressure, but this is something we like, we will always insist, and we look forward to more audiences in the cinema to watch animated films.
(Finish)