The entertainment industry shouldn't be like this

Chapter 184 You capitalists are the best at painting cakes

Lianya Entertainment Pictures disbanded several 20D animation production teams, and a group of original artists who had worked there for [-] years were dismissed.

This news did not make any waves in public opinion, but people in the industry know that this means that the largest 2D animation company in China has also begun to turn around. The era of 2D animation is really slowly going away!

For a while, some people sighed, some sighed, but no one paid attention to those unlucky people who were "eliminated by the times".

Except for Gu Xiji, the "inner ghost" who was born in Lianya Entertainment.

Among the "old colleagues" who were laid off, he didn't say he was familiar with all of them, but he still had a basic understanding, and then he discovered that Wang Wei had hit the mark——

Most of them are not the worst in ability, and there are even some of them who are at the top.

Of course, he didn't rush to make contact.

First of all, Dunhuang is not what everyone needs; secondly, not all "old colleagues" are willing to come - to some extent, Dunhuang is even the culprit of their layoffs, and they rushed to find them without directly throwing them out No wonder!

With Gu Xiji's reference, Dunhuang finally put the main recruiting targets on two people after excluding those who were particularly stubborn or whose personalities were really inappropriate.

"Ma Qingshi, Xu Zhonghe, both of them are senior animation producers and directors, and they are the core of their respective teams. As long as you take them down and raise your arms, I dare not say that everyone will vote, but most of them will vote. The backbone didn't run away." Gu Xiji said.

His work satisfied Wang Wei and others.

They don't want to cast a net here and there, but hope to get a relatively mature team that can be used when they are called.

The first is Xu Zhonghe.

He is an honest man who always says "good things can't be kept up, and bad things can't be left behind" in Wang Wei's mouth, and he just keeps his head down and works hard.

The so-called "knowing how to do is worse than being able to speak", even though his director level is also ranked first in Lianya Entertainment, he still became a victim of this wave of personnel turmoil.

After watching several of his animation works, Wang Wei knew it well——

He has little or no villains in his work, and in his words, "I can't make a movie that kills the villain, which everyone loves to see. I just create pure, peaceful world."

There is no shortage of audiences for such stories, but it is difficult to make a big hit, which is probably another reason why he was laid off in the first place.

So Wang Wei gave him a project——

"My Neighbor Totoro"!
This is an animated movie with the theme of nature, showing the happy time when sisters Satsuki and Totoro live in harmony.The style is fresh and calm, full of deep family affection, which makes people feel like spring breeze—it is Xu Zhonghe's favorite theme and style.

Frankly speaking, the box office of this animation is not destined to be a big hit, but the cute image of Totoro has extraordinary charm, and the derivatives developed will be a gold mine.

No one could refuse this elf who opened his eyes wide and showed his big white teeth when he smiled, including Xu Zhonghe, so he didn't need Dunhuang to talk too much, and he agreed to recruit people to join Dunhuang—even without asking about the salary.

Really honest man!
And when it was Ma Qing's turn...

Gu Xiji hesitated for a moment before giving an evaluation: "This is a difficult master!"

Speaking of which, the other party can be regarded as one of the most experienced animation masters in Lianya Entertainment, but Gu Xiji was not at all surprised that he was "gifted out".

Because this old man is extremely strict, he speaks with no mercy, "In my opinion, all of you are idiots, all of you are useless."

——This is not only for subordinates, but also for contradicting the boss.

Don't look at the boss who usually seems to be very tolerant to him, no, it's really a good time to eliminate dissidents, so he was "retired".

This old man is over 60 years old, but according to Gu Xiji's words, he is unbelievably energetic, and he is quite unique in cultivating newcomers.

When Wang Wei came to the door in person, he saw an old man with gray hair, kind eyebrows and kind eyes, who didn't show any violent temper at all.

Although he didn't directly attack people, he didn't even read the script that Wang Wei handed over with both hands, and refused without any ups and downs in his tone——

"The animation era that belongs to me is over. Young people now go to see the technologically advanced "Toy Story". I just want to live a retirement life of making tea and playing with birds."

Wang Wei looked at his room decorated like an animation studio: "..."

Gu Xiji glanced at the animated storyboards scattered on his workbench: "..."

The bad old man is very bad, you will be a ghost if you believe his words!
Gu Xiji coughed lightly: "I remember, you once said that animation is the most interesting thing you have done in your life, and it is impossible to give up. It would be too boring to retire now and do nothing. Alright."

Ma Qingshi had an expression of "I've forgotten everything I said when I was old".

Wang Wei said calmly, "Even if you don't talk about interests, are you willing to be kicked out by Lianya like this?"

Ma Qingshi showed a sneering expression: "So what if I'm not reconciled? I'm an old man now, I have no strength or energy, and I don't even have a few years to live. If I die halfway, can I be reconciled?"

Who doesn't know that the creation cycle of animated movies is longer than that of live-action movies!

The production cycle, which starts in four to five years, not only makes the financial return of investors unbearable, but also creates great physical and mental challenges for creators.

Gu Xiji was speechless.

After all, it is really uncertain whether the creation cycle of an animated film is longer, or the old man can live longer.

But Wang Wei said surprisingly: "Even if you die halfway, it's better than dying without doing anything."

Gu Xiji's eyes widened!

Ma Qingshi stared at Wang Wei for a while, then smiled: "You junior, you really like me, but it's a pity that I'm really old."

Wang Wei didn't care about his "relying on the old and selling the old", and continued: "All right, if you don't want to make animations, it's okay to help us train some new animation talents."

Ma Qingshi squinted his eyes, and said disdainfully: "I doubt whether your newly established studio has the ability to train new people?"

"Newcomers need to sum up experience through repeated failures in order to gain growth and tempering, and the financial size of a studio must sell every box office to survive. How can there be room for mistakes to train newcomers?"

Wang Wei said calmly: "With Dunhuang as your back, don't you have the backing of trial and error?"

The old man was even more disdainful: "Dunhuang is still far from the size of the top five!"

"Yes. But a rookie with excellent creativity may not be able to get a trial and error opportunity in the top five." Wang Wei glanced at Gu Xiji and pointed out.

"Besides, the global box office of "Toy Story" has reached 12 billion. To be honest, I am quite good at making money."

Ma Qingshi choked, and then snorted: "My whole body smells like copper, hurry up, don't pollute my cultivation."

Hey old man!

When talking about ideals, he thinks you are not strong enough; when talking about making money, he thinks you are full of money.

Gu Xiji sent a look - let's just say he is difficult to deal with!
Wang Wei guessed that he was angry, let it go!

Normal communication is impossible to communicate, so he had to release a big move——

"I know that in addition to being a master of animation, you are also a master of art. You are proficient in oil painting, Chinese painting, sculpture, drama, etc., so you have made achievements in ink animation, shadow puppet animation and even puppet animation."

"But with the continuous development of special effects technology, these forms of animation may disappear, are you really willing to watch?"

Ma Qingshi finally turned into a stinky face, staring at the two juniors—isn't it because you created 3D animation that all traditional animation is in danger of being eliminated?

"It's not us, it's the times! Even without us, the wave of technology will not stop, and traditional animation will eventually retreat to a marginal position." Wang Wei spread his hands.

"Since you deserve to be eliminated, why are you looking for me?" Ma Qingshi said angrily.

"I'm looking for you to see, what have we done for the animation?" Wang Wei said calmly.

Ma Qingshi was startled.

……

After all, Ma Qingshi couldn't resist his curiosity, so he came to the Dunhuang Animation Studio where he was "retired".

He originally thought that Lianya Entertainment's animation assembly line production system capable of producing blockbuster products in a stable and large-scale manner was the most advanced system in the industry, probably only comparable to Disney.

Now, seeing Dunhuang, a rising star, I really dare not say anything.

"Our studio has set up a series of specialized departments. For example, there is a lighting processing department, the sole responsibility of this team is to use the computer to create light and shadows; there are also departments responsible for processing skin, hair and water..."

After returning to his own territory, Gu Xiji immediately trembled.

Ma Qingshi observed intently.

Although the form has changed, many creative challenges, 3D animation and 2D animation are in the same line.

Like creating every detail of everything the audience sees!
For example, when shooting a live-action movie, you don’t have to think about where the wind comes from. Just take a camera and take a picture outdoors. The trees will appear in the picture, and the leaves will also appear in the picture, so that the rustling wind of the leaves will be natural. It is also reflected on the screen.

But in animation, there are no trees, no leaves, and of course no wind to rustle the leaves, everything has to be created.

And 3D animation faces more difficult challenges than 2D animation——

Such as skin.

In 2D animation, people may only focus on the color of the skin; but in 3D animation, the skin becomes one of the most difficult things to create art, it involves too many details, including skin color, hair, scars, wrinkles and Textures, and it is very difficult to capture the changes of light on the skin - if these details are not handled well, the skin is like a colored rubber.

Gu Xiji also said frankly: "These are all problems discovered in the creation of "Toy Story", and they have not been solved well now."

Ma Qingshi immediately understood that the first 3D animated film was dedicated to the story of toys, rather than animals or humans. There was a reason for this—toys were made of plastic, and they had a well-proportioned surface, no skin, even if it was missing A lot of elements, it doesn't look too conspicuous.

"There are too many details to deal with, and we need to develop related technologies, but we will solve them eventually." Gu Xiji's words revealed an indescribable confidence.

Ma Qingshi knew where his confidence came from.

For example, the specially developed hair modeling simulation software in front of him - well, he can't understand it, but he knows the effect he wants to create in the end - each hair has a unique shape, so real that it can make the human brain Complements the smooth texture to the touch.

This is a challenge that has never been encountered in the creation of 2D animation, but Ma Qingshi feels a kind of...intimacy from it!

——Because he is also a "detail lover"!
This reminded him of the time when he went to the seaside to gather scenery, observe the seascape, try to figure out how to paint the waves, and even visit the underwater world in order to vividly present the waves; ...

This sense of familiarity dispelled some of his resistance to 3D animation.

——He is not like many animators who think that 3D animation is a naked offense to imagination, but after all, he was "lost his job".

However, Ma Qingshi also somewhat understood why Dunhuang was poached by Lianya Entertainment. Instead of taking strict precautions, Dunhuang had the intention of "counter-poaching".

——Because Dunhuang Animation Studio has formed a 3D animation R&D and production system.

As long as it is not collapsed by large-scale poaching, the system will evolve rapidly along the planned route; then it will absorb more talents, and the strong will become stronger.

Then he didn't understand even more - Dunhuang has already shown the number one player in the field of animation in the new era, why should he recruit them "people who can't keep up with the times"?
At this time Wang Wei answered: "Because I have some stories, I think it might be better to express them with traditional animation, so I need the help of you animation masters; also because animation has been born for a hundred years, with rich and diverse forms, and entering the 3D era, if only An art form, it is too boring."

——Although Wang Wei doesn't want to admit it, his current perception of animated movies, especially 3D animated movies, is actually shaped by American aesthetics: realistic special effects created by 3D methods, and cheerful and cute characters. , The connotation of the film with the theme of love and peace.

It's not just him. In another time and space, influenced by Hollywood animation, creators from other countries also mass-produce American-style 3D animation movies.

This is the terrible shaping ability of culture!
But in this time and space, American animation should not be the only one that is popular!
After all, there is no gap in the originality of domestic animation, and even the relatively marginalized animation forms with unique national styles such as ink animation and paper-cut animation have always been inherited.

It's just that having inheritance does not mean that it can be given a new life in a new era.

To be honest, Wang Wei doesn't know how to revive them, but he knows that the first thing is——

"We can't fight against the times, but we can choose to reconcile with the times. Traditional animation may not be unable to integrate with 3D animation, but you traditional animation people, you can't always hold a posture of resistance."

At this moment, Wang Wei behaved like an idealist through and through:
"I can give you the opportunity to do what you want to do, although it may not make money;"

"I can provide you with stories, allowing you to express different style pursuits, although it is likely to ruin my story;"

"I can provide you with the most advanced technology in the industry, allowing you to integrate more art forms, although it is likely to be a niche trend..."

"Just join us!"

Ma Qingshi was silent for a moment before opening his mouth: "You capitalists are the best at painting cakes. Don't think that I will easily believe your rhetoric... Where are the cakes you prepared for me?"

""Spirited Away"? What kind of weird name?"

……

　I'm sorry, I've been dizzy all day long, and there's only one update coming late~~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)