Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 657 Propaganda (14)

In fact, whenever a good Hollywood science fiction film is released, there will be related criticisms—why doesn't China have science fiction films?

When Avatar was released, a bunch of influential figures and famous directors led the way in praising it.

Renowned director Lu Chuan said, "Avatar is a complete defeat that Chinese filmmakers must collectively witness and accept. Essentially, it's an attempt by American filmmakers to subvert our national film industry and guide Chinese audiences onto a deeper level; this is a tragic thing; an unavoidable fact."

Director Agan also said, "What should we learn from Avatar? I think there's not much to learn, because the technological gap between us and Hollywood is too big, almost 100 years."

That's ridiculous...

At that time, although movies had been around for over 110 years, the film industry had only existed for fifty years!

Moreover… Avatar is also a milestone in the Hollywood film industry…

The five major stages of Hollywood's film industry development: Star Wars → Jurassic Park → Titanic → The Lord of the Rings → Avatar…

There's no need to rush this kind of thing.

A post that went viral back then was titled "Why Can't China Make Science Fiction Films?" The reasons given were: "Chinese people lack imagination for the future," "lack of scientific exploration," and "rote learning has destroyed Chinese people's imagination"...

Others say that 'Han Chinese culture, or Huaxia culture, is primarily idealistic and introspective. The descendants of this culture are more interested in worldly power struggles and intrigues than in the progress of civilization…'

It seems ridiculous now, but it was quite popular back then!

Okay, there has always been a market for it – during the summer season, when Transformers 4 raked in nearly 2 billion RMB at the Chinese box office, people raised that overused question again: Why can't China make its own science fiction movies?
"Edge of Tomorrow" and "Interstellar" were also very well received, which then sparked reflection.

There are also advantages…

These voices are what fueled the popularity of "The Martian"!

In late 14, not only did "The Three-Body Problem" announce its filming, but Ning Hao also announced that he would direct "The Rural Teacher"...

In addition, there's "The Martian," which is scheduled for release during the Spring Festival.

They forcibly linked these three films together and then started touting it as the dawn of a new era for science fiction…

This is also why Shen Yan dislikes the Yoozoo version of "The Three-Body Problem"...

—How dare I, a fine young man, be compared to someone like you!

Then Kong Ergou uttered his famous line: "Great science fiction works like 'The Three-Body Problem' must be made by Chinese people; if they're going to be ruined, they should be ruined by us Chinese."

Uh... whatever makes you happy!

Er Gou is the author of "Northeast Gangster Chronicles". He was with Da Gou (Li Ming), but after Da Gou died and Xiao Ma Ben Teng had internal strife, he went to Youzu...

He used to love bragging on Weibo, spouting a bunch of classic quotes, including one that said, "The harm that 'Young and Dangerous' has done to Chinese teenagers exceeds that of 100 Japanese action-romance films!"

After going into the game, I didn't accomplish anything; all I learned was how to brag!

……

Shen Yan hasn't been on a variety show in a long time!
The original hosting team for "Day Day Up" consists of Wang Han, Ou Di, Tian Yuan, and Qian Feng.

Although the ratings are not as high as the peak of 11 years - with an average rating of over 2.

But it remains one of Hunan TV's most consistently rated variety shows, second only to "Happy Camp"!

Generally speaking, the first choice for promoting someone like Shen Yan would be "Happy Camp," but this episode features Liu Cixin...

Shen Yan only agreed to appear on the show because of Liu Cixin. They couldn't exactly have Liu Cixin on "Happy Camp," could they?

……

"The main reason for choosing 'The Martian' is that I wanted to try hard science fiction... Space is the most traditional science fiction genre, and it's also the type of film that requires the most solid industrial foundation!"

The show "Day Day Up" showed great respect for Shen Yan, immediately displaying the 'space base' built in Xiangshan on the big screen...

As the camera panned across the room, Shen Yan explained, "Yes, these things were all built under the guidance of the space agency... and they're not exactly one-to-one replicas, because the Mars base is still in the conceptual stage... we're basically doing a preliminary test..."

"I really want to thank Xiangshan County and NB City... These buildings took seven months to construct... They even specially built two super-large sound stages of 5000 square meters for our crew..."

"We contacted five special effects companies across the country... Later, we simply hired all of them!"

"We reciprocated by signing equity agreements with three of the special effects companies, and we've set up our headquarters in Xiangshan!"

"We've dealt with foreign visual effects companies before officially launching the project, like Industrial Light & Magic, Weta Digital, and Framestore from the UK..."

Wang Han interjected, "Too expensive?"

"We're not too concerned about the price... After 'The Martian' started filming, a bunch of investors wanted to join... We don't lack money..."

"Then why didn't you contact them?"

“They look down on Chinese films!” Shen Yan sighed. “Generally, the top-tier special effects companies in the world have Hollywood projects on hand, and they won’t assign their best teams to you… Chinese films are mostly matched with teams of interns…”

Ou Di couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"Because even if a Chinese film deal goes wrong, it won't affect their status in the industry... In fact, Hollywood deals are enough for them to live comfortably!"

So, the special effects for "The Martian" were basically done by domestic special effects companies?

“That’s right!” Shen Yan nodded and smiled. “Actually, many Chinese visual effects companies get their work from overseas. Base FX—doing outsourcing for Hollywood—had them do a lot of visual effects work for films like 2012, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Mission: Impossible 4…”

"Then why do people always say that Chinese special effects are '50-cent special effects'?"

"Special effects are all about getting what you pay for. If the production company pays too little, they can only produce cheap special effects... Another thing is that you have to give them time. You've already finished filming the movie, and then you want special effects... If you only have a week, nobody can do it!"

"So what's the correct approach?"

"Before filming even began, the special effects project was booked from the initial script development stage. From the very beginning, the script and director were involved in the preparation, and all special effects shots were finalized..."

"The cost is 4 million?"

"Well, the special effects only cost 8000 million; the real expense was in equipment and props..."

"Props?"

"Spacesuits, spacesuits... including these architectural designs, we have to conform to Chinese aesthetics... I once saw a comment that 'Chinese people would not succeed in making Iron Man films because if you take off Iron Man's helmet, there is a Chinese person inside, and you will subconsciously feel that something is wrong'... In fact, this is an incompatibility in terms of aesthetics!"

"aesthetics?"

"We don't have our own unique aesthetic about machinery... The Martian is the first truly hard science fiction film!"

"So... how did you do it?"

"We chose the Soviet Union's heavy industrial aesthetics because this aesthetic resonates with Chinese memories and perceptions. The characteristics of 'heavy industry,' 'massiveness,' and 'gloom' presented in the film are closely linked to Soviet aesthetics in architecture and industrial development..."

(End of this chapter)