The application of foreign new technology in film and television industry?

Application of CG technology in modern film industry

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200465438+February 22nd 12: 46 Source: Wang Kaiqing, a contemporary artist.

Leading speech

New media art is a new art category based on "optical" media and electronic media and digital technology. To put it bluntly, new media art is digital art, and its main means of expression is CG animation, which is referred to as "CG" by many people in the industry. The combination of new media art and the latest scientific and technological achievements such as video recording, computer, network and digital technology has penetrated into all fields of modern art, among which the most familiar is the application of CG in modern film industry. Taking the modern film industry as an example, this paper discusses the development of new media art in the modern film industry.

From the 1950' s, the appearance of television forced Hollywood film industry into the era of "blockbuster" to some extent. When people can watch TV sitcoms with their families, the film has a certain degree of survival crisis. Take the United States as an example Since 1980s, Hollywood movies have undergone a profound change-from "narrative movies" to "landscape movies", especially the visual spectacle created by digital technology, which has almost become a magic weapon for Hollywood to occupy the global market in recent years. CG digital technology (including virtual image synthesis technology and digital synthesis technology) makes many previously unexpressed themes possible for the first time. The infinite possibilities it brings not only promote the development of the plot, but also urge the director to put his more unconstrained imagination on the screen. More importantly, it has brought countless wealth to Hollywood film companies. Since then, Hollywood has widely used CG as a magic weapon to create visual wonders in various big scenes and large-scale productions, which has achieved its consistent "blockbuster" road.

Oscar (Academy of Motion Picture Sciences and Arts Award) has set up the "Best Film and Television Effect Award" since11960, which greatly encouraged the application and promotion of CG technology in movies. Since 1980' s, almost every film that won the best visual effect of Oscar has made a major breakthrough in CG technology.

Two American blockbusters and CG technology

The new media art with digital technology as the core has, to a certain extent, become a magic weapon for modern film industry to survive and win in the competition with TV industry. CG technology also shines brilliantly in the modern film industry with the in-depth development of "blockbuster" era.

Take the United States as an example, browse the development of CG technology (including virtual image synthesis technology and digital synthesis technology) in Hollywood blockbusters.

1968, director stanley kubrick filmed "200 1 A Space Odyssey" and tried CG technology for the first time. At that time, some people commented that it was like a pyramid, magnificent, mysterious and even inexplicable. It violates the sacred principles of almost all film academies. Traditional plots, characters and lines become insignificant here, while special effects, pictures and music occupy a dominant position. Where's Steven Spielberg was full of praise for this movie: "When I first saw this movie, I thought it was not a movie, and it would change the form of the movie."

1982, George. Star Trek 2 produced by Lucas marks the beginning of computer animation's formal entry into the film and entertainment industry. The 60-second stunt of the film created many firsts in CG film history at that time, including developing realistic flame algorithm, creating fractal geometric equations of virtual mountains and coastlines and so on. In this film, the influence is far-reaching, and CG technology is regarded as the center of attention for the first time.

In the same year, Disney's TRON was released, which was recognized as "creating a new era of CG film production", and countless CG pioneers entered the CG field under the influence of this film.

The box office fiasco of Battle of Electronic World made Hollywood afraid to set foot in CG for a long time until the birth of Abyss. James. With the help of ILM, Cameron created a lifelike virtual underwater creature with a computer for the first time. It can deform freely like water, and even has the shape of a face and a human hand. This lifelike virtual creature can't be accomplished by any other means except CG. This amazing visual effect caused a great sensation at that time. After that, a variety of large and small digital production studios emerged near Hollywood, and CG technology was also widely used in film production. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the image of underwater aliens has brought Cameron the next more classic cartoon image-T1000.

Terminator 2 (1991) is the first large-scale traditional film improved by CG technology, including more than 40 computer-generated shots. T 1000 can change from molten metal to real person! His hands can gradually grow into swords, and his face can heal automatically after being blown to pieces; Ordinary floor tiles can also slowly uplift and become real people! Except for the last real actor, the intermediate process is all generated by computer. The freely deformed T 1000 has become a classic image in the history of science fiction movies.

In Forrest Gump (1994), Forrest Gump's "historic" handshake with President Kennedy became a classic example of the integration of science and technology into narrative, which was talked about by people. ILM cut out the image of Kennedy from the expansion, combined it with Forrest Gump's blue screen performance, and then modified the image of their hands to make them hug each other. Kennedy's mouth is also lip synchronous digital processing. In order to make the picture more realistic, when shooting Forrest Gump's performance, the contrast, luminosity, particle thickness and focal length of the film are always consistent with the presidential documentary. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the anti-Vietnam War demonstration scene starring more than 1000 extras in the film was copied into a huge scale with 50,000 participants, which can be described as a miracle created by CG technology!

1997 Titanic is believed to be familiar to everyone. Special effects (including Titanic model, CG and underwater photography) account for almost half of the production budget of $250 million. But the gamble ended in a great victory. The income of more than $65.438+billion made it the most profitable film in film history, and it also won back 654.38+065.438+0 Oscar trophies including the best film award. No one can break the record of this film so far.

From 200 1 to 2003, Tolkien's masterpiece The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was adapted from the most imaginative novel of the same name in the 20th century, which was praised by millions of loyal readers all over the world as the greatest adventure story in history. Jackson adapted the The Lord of the Rings trilogy into a movie, which became the most luxurious movie feast in the 20th century. It is said that as early as 1978, there was once a man named Ralph. Bashi made a film version of The Lord of the Rings, but he had to abort because of the limited technical level at that time. The Lord of the Rings made the Scottish special effects company Wata Digital famous. Almost all the special effects of the trilogy were designed by Weta (in the post-production, the post-production teams such as Digital domain in the United States and Animal logic in Australia also joined the post-production because they were in a hurry). There are 560 special effects shots in the first movie alone, including 654.38+million characters combined and computer-generated Smeagol. In terms of personnel allocation and distribution, Weta sent 654.38+020 elite soldiers, which were divided into six groups: fantasy creatures, special effects, make-up, armor and weapons, miniature models and model special effects, each of which performed its own duties to make the comprehensive visual effects in the film perfect.

As can be seen from the above cases, new media artists play an important role in the whole film creation process. On the other hand, new media artists often play the role of engineers most of the time in the creative process. So most people are reluctant to admit that they are artists. Some people say that this technology will ruin the essence of the film, and some people say that it will erode the audience's thinking space.

In fact, this statement is one-sided. We can analyze this problem and find the answer from the historical factors of new media art.

Futurism, Dadaism, structuralism with technology as the core and surrealism with Freud's subconscious thought as the main form have laid a solid artistic practice foundation for the emergence of new media art.

Futurists try to find an expression equivalent to formal factors to express the aesthetics of combining art and science. Futurism advocates creating a sense of movement in the picture, showing strength and speed. We can see the perfect presentation of this artistic concept from Ballard's Street Lamp-A Study of Light, Dog with a Chain and Bochuni's sculpture "Man Striding".

In the artistic practice of Russian structuralism, Viadi Mir Tating believes that artists in modern society should be qualified mechanics and engineers, because only in this way can they become artists in modern industrial society.

Influenced by Freud's subconscious theory, surrealists are a group of artists who are obsessed with seeking dreams. They are interested in discovering and displaying the unconscious mentality, liberating the imagination, and trying to break through the realistic concept that conforms to logic and reality, and integrate the realistic concept with instinct, subconscious and dream experience, so as to achieve an absolute and surreal scene. Therefore, in surrealist paintings, we can see their unique modeling and fantastic artistic language. We can see the perfect embodiment of this artistic idea from Dali's eternal memory and foresight of the civil war.

In the late 20th century, electronic technology and computer technology improved day by day, ushered in the fourth industrial revolution marked by CG. The focus of these art schools has shifted from "machine aesthetics" and mechanical art to electronic art, as well as interactive media art that integrates behavior, stage, painting, music and body, and the expression forms of art have also become diversified. The application of CG technology in modern film industry is the continuation of the artistic language and artistic thought of the above-mentioned art schools in the field of modern film industry, but the expression carrier of its artistic language and artistic thought is no longer limited to ready-made art, human body art and so on. And they can also have a new choice-new media art.

With the emergence of new media art and the wide application of CG technology in modern film industry, it cannot be said unilaterally that CG technology will destroy movies or limit the audience's thinking space. On the contrary, the auxiliary application of CG technology in modern film industry can make the performance of film art more perfect and full of artistic tension and vitality.

Of course, it is undeniable that the development of CG technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, and the visual effects it gives to movies are getting stronger and stronger. So at present, a problem facing all CG people is how to balance the factors of art and technology in the film, so as to achieve the best combination of business and art, which is also a problem that CG people need to continue to explore and solve in the future. Let me give two examples of modern American film industry to discuss the efforts made by CG technology in this regard.

First of all, in Titanic, the production methods of mainstream movies are undergoing revolutionary changes to some extent. At the same time, it also shows people a more important application direction of CG in movies-"invisible special effects". There is a seamless relationship between CG technology and actor performance, and people don't even know that they are watching a CG special effect. For example, in a scene often mentioned, Jack stood at the bow and shouted "I am the king of the world". Between the blue sky and the sea, the camera pulls out the panoramic view of Titanic from Jack. It is hard for the audience to imagine that this scene alone consists of 200 pictures. Director Cameron once said, "Using so many CG special effects is nothing more than giving the audience a feeling of being on board, so as to experience the fantastic glory of the Titanic on its maiden voyage and the unspeakable sadness when it was destroyed." For the application of CG technology, this is a very important change-CG technology can not only create miracles, but also create emotions.

In 2000, "Gladiator" cost 1 100 million dollars, which was the biggest masterpiece since the establishment of DreamWorks, but "Gladiator" unabashedly incorporated CG composite stunts into the film and performed a tragic heroic elegy. When we see the jubilant scene in the huge ancient Roman arena, I'm afraid we won't think how many special effects were used. When we saw the mottled tiger attacking Russell? Chloe, you'll feel real fear. Mueller, one of the film's major production companies, said that his greatest pride was: "The audience couldn't see our work at all, but they were moved." The "invisible special effects" achieved by CG technology, a new media, and the seamless combination of CG technology and actors' performances undoubtedly explain to people a conclusion-there is no question of who replaces or destroys who between art and technology, but they can coexist and realize the relationship between * * * and prosperity.

Three China "blockbusters" that have just started

Looking at the development of new media art and CG technology in western film industry and re-examining the development of new media art and CG technology in China film industry, we can see that new media art has been neglected in China. Where is China's own blockbuster? The first thing that comes to mind is probably Heroes of Heaven and Earth, which was a curse not long ago. Counting further, Hero can also be regarded as one, but it was shot abroad, and it can't be regarded as a "China blockbuster" in a strict sense. Last year, Polar Rescue, known as "the masterpiece of China's high-tech movies", was a dismal box office, which also reflected the weak strength of "China blockbusters".

The official appearance of China CG special effects in domestic movies should begin with Qin Song directed by Zhou Xiaowen in 1995. This is a well-made, magnificent and star-studded historical blockbuster, in which the magnificent Epang Palace was made by computer. It is said that in order to make this film, Zhou Xiaowen personally went to Hollywood to inspect the computer synthesis technology.

1996, Zhu Da computer company invested 1 100 million yuan to shoot a large-scale computer stunt movie "Make a scene in Heaven", and director Zhang Jianya became the first CG film director in China. However, due to the contradiction between actors and technology, capital, technology, teamwork and other issues. "Making a scene in Heaven" finally aborted, and tens of millions of yuan of economic losses dragged down the largest and earliest private computer animation company in China. The failure of "Make a scene in Heaven" even scared a large number of investors, making them afraid to set foot in this "high-cost" film for a long time.

1999 is a very important year in the history of CG movies in China. A group of sensitive film directors, for their own goals, began to try to apply CG technology in their own films. Zhang Jianya bears the brunt. Four years after the abortion of "Making a scene in Heaven", the director, who was called "computer urchin" by the media, used five minutes of three-dimensional animated images and a large number of images combined with model and digital processing in the "emergency landing" stunt shot for more than 20 minutes, creating a spectacular effect of Boeing plane crash crisis; In Flying Leopard, Wang Rui imagines China's new fighter with CG technology, and uses more than 180 three-dimensional animation lenses to show the fighter's difficult flight movements. There are also "Born Out" and "The Battle of Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou".

However, we have to notice that these films are basically "main melody movies", which are produced with huge investment by the state, not from market demand, and have not achieved the expected results at the box office. Therefore, to a great extent, the application of CG technology is only a response to the international high-tech trend in this period, and domestic films still have a long way to go before they can really use digital technology to create and produce.

200 1 CG people in China will never forget China's first digital short film "Qingna". A 5-minute short film, with a production cost of 2 million RMB, may be nothing at all abroad, but it is a big production in 200 1 China. Known as the "No.1 Digital Movie Short Film" and "No.1 Virtual Idol in China", Qingna was very lively in the circle for a while, but before Qingna met the audience, Qingna was involved in the investor's lawsuit.

"The production cost of" Qingna "is 400,000 per minute, less than 4% of foreign countries. The production time is only three months, which is less than the creation time of foreign films. " This was the slogan of "Qingna" in those days. Looking back now, we have to reflect-where is the problem? Is our crux really just money?

In 2002, Polar Rescue was Zhang Jianya's third CG film. The combination of Disaster Adventure, Digital Special Effects and Popular Stars can be described as a Hollywood blockbuster. To this end, Shanghai Film specially equipped the crew with the first digital camera in China, and invited experts and professors from the only State Key Laboratory of Computer Image and Graphics in China to join us, striving to make the visual effect of this film leading in China and first-class in the world. The production of the whole film took more than half a year, and 40 people participated in the production. The main three-dimensional software is Maya, and later Inferno, Flame, Shake and so on are used. The whole film * * * cost 20 million RMB, and more than 300 shots (accounting for 40% of the whole drama) used computer special effects (40 minutes). Only these 40 minutes of special effects consumed 65.438+million RMB. Moreover, it is said that the production of this film involves many advanced technologies that have never been used in domestic digital special effects production, such as three-dimensional human body scanning, dynamic capture, large particle special effects and so on. Nevertheless, Zhang Jianya does not deny that Polar Rescue still has many defects, and its special effects are hard to compare with Hollywood disaster films. In this regard, he explained: "We are still in the initial stage of exploration. It's like the oil pan is up, it's time to cook, and there is no soy sauce. The soy sauce here is a series of problems such as technical problems, software and software technology upgrades. " In fact, some loopholes and irrationality in the plot and some technical flaws failed to save the bleak ending of the box office.

In the second half of the year, Hero was the most successful commercial film in China, with a cost of $30 million and a recovery of $200 million. This film, whether it is imposing manner, scale or production technology, can be regarded as leading in China and first-class in the world. It's a pity that the special effects of the film are made by Australian animal logic, American Tweak film and orphanage, which can't be regarded as "made in China" in a strict sense.

In 2003, CG technology was used more and more in movies, among which Heroes of Heaven and Earth was the most noteworthy.

This is the first film invested by Colombian, but the special effects production has been completed in China (Hualong Digital Film Production Center). After the release of "Eleventh", this film set a box office record for domestic blockbusters this year. In the 14 month of the film, Hualong * * * completed more than 160 special effects shots with a total duration of 9 minutes. Although these special effects shots have shortcomings, they also have many remarkable places. First of all, he recreated Tang Cheng more than 1000 years ago, with 250 floors in the later period, and the total data reached 200GB；; Secondly, self-developed plug-ins make special effects of "sandstorm"; Thirdly, the CG synthesis technology in the film created many "invisible" shots and created an atmosphere of war.

Compared with Hollywood blockbusters, Heroes of Heaven and Earth still has a big gap in special effects, especially the "blue shock wave" of the relic was almost overturned by people from all walks of life, but compared with previous films, we have seen his progress. More importantly, this is the first time that a "China blockbuster" has been recognized by the general public and created a box office victory.

Looking back on the development of CG technology in China from1995 to 2003, we can easily see that the main obstacles to the development of CG films in China are: lack of funds and small investment scale; The domestic film market is depressed, and most production companies are stuck in the creation of advertisements, MTV and TV titles. Creation is still in the primary stage of imitation, and there are few unique innovations.

The abuse of technology leads to the mistake of grasping the plot, and it is undoubtedly grandstanding to replace the rationality of the plot with a technological breakthrough; Only pay attention to the investment of equipment, but ignore the investment of talents, on the contrary, many advanced equipment can not be used, resulting in a lot of waste of resources; The overall technical level of the industry is relatively backward, and most of them use commercial software such as Maya and 3ds max, and basically have no ability to independently develop software; The "bystander" attitude of mainstream filmmakers in the industry towards digital technology.

Through the phenomenon, carefully consider the reasons that ultimately restrict the development of CG films in China. In fact, it is not difficult. We can find the reason from the current system of China film industry itself.

The key of China film industry lies in the lack of a sound, open, competitive and dynamic industrial environment and mechanism for film creation and production. Without conditions, mechanisms can mobilize people to create conditions. In this sense, mechanism is productivity.

The industrialization transformation of China's films is first faced with the transformation of film management concept and system. In China, movies have long been simplified as a means of political propaganda and managed as a carrier of political ideology. Film is regarded as an important ideological carrier, and the space for film activities is still quite limited. Government agencies supervise film production through legal and administrative means. Due to some regulations and restrictions, there is also a lack of cultural level, which is far from the cultural characteristics of film as a mass culture. Therefore, the public restrictions (politics, policies, ethics, traditions and habits) on Chinese mainland films are not only stricter than those of other major film-producing countries and regions in the world, but also stricter than those of overseas and imported films shown on the mainland, and even stricter than those of domestic public television, which to some extent inhibits the public affinity of China films and weakens the competitiveness of China films in the mass cultural market. At the same time, the single administrative thinking and rigid management mode limit the creative thinking and production concept, which makes mainland films lack openness to face reality to a certain extent, lack diversity and hierarchy in film concepts, forms and styles, and simply can't catch the audience. /kloc-from 0/999 to 2002, several domestic blockbusters, such as Emergency Landing, Emergence, Battle of Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou and Rough Waves, were all invested by the government. The direct investment of national government departments accounts for the majority, while the integration of private capital in the market is only a small part. This determines that these domestic blockbusters have lost the popular market consumer groups from the beginning, and the investment scale has far exceeded the average investment level of China films at present, and the market recovery is basically impossible, so the box office revenue and investment return are not up to expectations.

To revitalize China's film industry, we can only proceed from the problems existing in China's film industry and combine the national cultural characteristics to truly realize the transformation of the industrial environment and mechanism of film creation and production, and embark on a road of domestic blockbusters with China characteristics, instead of simply imitating American Hollywood films.

All of the above are our summaries after watching these films and collecting a lot of written materials and related media reports. In view of the present situation of China film industry, as a CG person who loves movies, we have a long way to go.