1905 movie network news A few days ago, the film released a special prop series, focusing on the exploration and challenges of the creative team in the physical visual effects that are relatively lacking in China film industry at this stage. Both the images of Mo Qilin and Lei Zhenzi, which are in line with China’s classic aesthetics, and the special props of baby Lei Zhenzi and Bigan’s heart have opened the eyes of the audience.
Special props show the creation and presentation of the film "Feng Shen I" in terms of physical visual effects. The director said: "We have done many tests and studies, both from the aesthetic form and the realistic degree of restoration." Four Seasons, the conceptual designer of characters and animals, and his team at the end spent about two years designing more than 80 characters and making more than 100 sculptures, among which the design and production of fantasy creatures are very complicated, such as Mo Qilin, the mount of Master Wen.
Chinese is very familiar with the image characteristics of unicorn with antlers, faucets, scales and cow hooves, but it is not easy to change from the familiar plane image into a three-dimensional and dynamic digital creature in the movie. The design difficulty lies in maintaining the aesthetic effect of China’s traditional modeling, and at the same time conforming to biology, so that the audience can believe that this is a real creature. The conceptual design team started from the details, independently designed and made every scale of Mo Qilin in 1:1 scale, which added the real credibility of Mo Qilin.
Lei Zhenzi, as the most important digital character in the trilogy of deities, has the same rich emotions and complex performances as human beings. The difficulty in image design lies in finding strangeness from the familiar character characteristics of the audience. According to the description of Lei Zhenzi’s appearance in the novel "Romance of the Gods", the conceptual design team found a breakthrough in his "fleshy wings" and got design inspiration from the fins of marine life swordfish or betta fish.
Four Seasons, the conceptual designer of figures and animals, said: "The long fins float in the water, which is very consistent with the beautiful and fairy feeling of the Kunlun system." The conceptual design team provides an important basis for the work of the visual effects department through super-high design accuracy and equal proportion of visual effects reference, so that the fantasy characters and creatures in the deity world can be presented more realistically and stereoscopically on the big screen.
The film "Feng Shen I" presents many classic plots such as Ji Chang’s adoption of Lei Zhenzi and Bigan’s gouging out his heart in the story of Feng Shen, and the special props feature reveals the special props of Lei Zhenzi’s baby and Bigan’s heart. China’s films have developed by leaps and bounds from no special effects to full CG special effects, and there is a lack of physical visual effects in the middle. Director Wu Ershan said: "We have artists, scientists and computer engineers in China, but we only lack cross-border creators who combine these fields. This may be a combination of cross-border talents that are scarce in our entire China film industry."
Lei Zhenzi baby’s special prop is a cross-border work that has made an innovative breakthrough. First, the artist creates the image of Lei Zhenzi baby, then the mechanical artist completes the mechanical structure design of its limbs and facial expressions, and finally, three couples control teachers jointly operate it to complete the performance. Zhang Sui, deputy director of special props/mechanical devices, revealed that the size and weight of Lei Zhenzi baby special props need to be close to the real baby, and complicated electronic and mechanical parts should be installed in a small internal space, so that the head, arms, feet, eyebrows, cheeks, corners of the mouth and lips can not only move, but also be controlled separately.
With the cooperation of the couple control team, Lei Zhenzi babies can complete facial expressions such as crying, laughing, opening their mouths, reaching out and kicking, and even complete subtle gestures such as blinking, rolling their eyes and frowning. At the shooting scene, the actors of Xibo Hou Jichang and Jiang Ziya all praised Lei Zhenzi’s "acting skills", and they also felt more substituted in the performance.
In addition, the special props of Bigan’s heart are equipped with batteries and control buttons, which can adjust the beating frequency. The real situation is very helpful for the actors to perform. The special props production team strives for perfection in every detail, which can not only help the actors perform better, but also bring more realistic visual effects to the audience. Such ingenuity and sincerity, I believe that the audience can really feel it at every moment of the viewing process.