“Three-Body” animation “circle fans” countless Chinese comics must learn to tell stories
Market Information Network 2022-12-17 21:45:26 Source: Xinhuanet Comments:
Recently, the “Three-Body Problem” animation, adapted from Liu Cixin’s series of novels of the same name, was launched on Bilibili (“B Station” for short), with two consecutive episodes in the first week. The first two episodes had over 140 million views on station B, and nearly 6.2 million people “chased” (subscribed) online, triggering another round of “three-body craze”. (Yangtze Evening News, December 15)
It must be admitted that the animation adaptation of the novel “Three-Body Problem” is not easy. It has a grand story structure, rigorous scientific logic, magnificent humanistic imagination, and is permeated with Chinese philosophy; it depicts a wonderful and huge “Three-Body” civilization, and explores the relationship between people and technology. And the relationship between human beings and the entire universe; it has about 900,000 words, and the story spans more than a thousand years. It is extremely difficult to adapt it to be condensed into more than a dozen episodes of animation. This is a huge test of the adaptation ability and production level of domestic animation creation organizations, and the producer has spent a lot of time and money on polishing.
Animation should not be exclusive to children. Compared with live-action film and television dramas, the main audience of animation is young people. In the mature Japanese animation market, content themes, creative styles, and ideological connotations are all rich and diverse, because they have broken the stereotyped concept that “animation is for children to watch”. Chinese young people also have a need to watch animation. It is the voice of many young people to hope that domestic animation will get rid of the childishness and expand towards a wider and wider age range. The novel “Three-Body Problem”, which won the “Hugo Award”, the highest honor in science fiction literature, has transformed into an animation “Three-Body Problem”, which will naturally attract young people.
If domestic animation wants to get rid of childishness, it must first learn to tell stories. In the 1990s, Hollywood blockbusters were sold in my country. They are not only good at special effects and IP popularity, but also good at storytelling. They are the perfect combination of vision and story. However, the Chinese-style blockbusters at that time were repeatedly accused of “not being able to tell stories”, and they just wanted to win audiences by relying on special effects and IP popularity. Therefore, when we study Hollywood movies, we not only learn advanced film technology, but more importantly, learn how to narrate. Now, domestic animation also needs to learn how Japanese and American animation tell stories.
Take the novel “Three-Body Problem” as an example. It has twists and turns and ups and downs. If the animation adaptation does not tell the story well, it will be reduced to “electronic mustard”. Looking at it now, the animation of “The Three-Body Problem” has told the story well. The opening chapter of the work is the “Guzheng Action” at the end of the first part of the original work. That is to say, the animation adaptation of “Three-Body Problem” is based on the first part and the second part The narration of the most exciting content; when expressing grand themes, the animation details the plot to everyone in the society, taking into account the humanistic care of the original work. For example, in the big scene at the beginning of “Guzheng Action”, different characters are hidden in the face of civilization invasion different attitudes.
To tell a good story in domestic animation, on the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the screenwriting team and polish the script repeatedly. Professionals pointed out that the technical level of domestic animation is relatively mature, but there is a lack of screenwriters and underestimation of screenwriters. Despite the sudden emergence of “The Return of the Great Sage”, this overall situation cannot be changed. What determines the quality of domestic animation is the script and the production. The reason why the “Three-Body Problem” animation has received numerous praises is because the screenwriter has a full and deep understanding of the original work, and has a high degree of completion in the control of story selection and narrative rhythm.
On the other hand, we must inject our own culture and values. Hollywood blockbusters are full of American culture, American values, and American individual heroism. The main audience of domestic animation is the Chinese, and we must also inject our own culture and values to make it conform to the value identity of Chinese people. According to reports, the creator of the “Three-Body” animation once said, “We want to try some stories that focus on human nature under the grand world view and cosmology, and have Chinese thinking”; “Three-Body Problem” uses Chinese values to understand the universe. , “It’s not about superheroes saving the world, we emphasize a community with a shared future for the entire human race.” This may be the fundamental reason why it is widely welcomed by domestic audiences.
The technical level determines whether an animation can “set sail”, and the ability to tell a story determines how far an animation can go. Looking forward to more and more domestic animations that respect the temperament of the original work like the “Three-Body” animation, show the classic content of the original work with animation, and have excellent picture production, giving people a grand and shocking audio-visual experience. (He Yonghai)
Original manuscript link: http://www.xinhuanet.com/comments/20221216/daa8973a25c54db7a5c9c1e5791cb96c/c.html
Responsible editor: Gao Xuejing