The creation of China's animated blockbuster film "Ne Zha 2" is an exploration for the country' animation industry to transition from workshop production to industrialized production, with 138 domestic animation companies working together in the project over the past five years to make the box-office smash, according to industry insiders.
Thanks to fine cooperation among the companies, more than 1,900 realistic special effects shots have been presented to the audience around the world.
The verisimilitude of the shots was embodied in the facial expressions of the figures, the patterns of their clothes and even their hair in the megahit.
Advanced technologies were applied in film making, such as motion capture and particle effects, to make the scenarios true to reality. For example, even the moving routes of metal fragments shown in the film were generated in accordance with aerodynamics.
"We should create something that the audience has never seen before, that can create a strong visual impact, or that can show a very novel artistic form of expression and bring the audience a greater sense of beauty and excitement. Only then would we feel that it's worth doing," said Yang Yu (Jiaozi), director of "Ne Zha 2".
From modeling, coloring, action design, to content production, the 138 companies demonstrated their respective expertise. Notably, Light Chaser Animation Studios was responsible for special effects, Original Force handled character design, and Phenom Films took charge of scenario design.
Beijing Enlight Media and Maoyan Entertainment serve as important channels for film release and ticket sales, while Alibaba Cloud offered cloud computing service for the film and Pop Mart cooperated with the film makers to design related products.
Most of the 138 companies are headquartered in major cities like Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Hangzhou, where industrial clusters have taken shape in animation creation. The participating teams were divided into 26 independent groups in the film project to coordinate their efforts efficiently.
"In the production of 'Ne Zha 2', we have actually seen a very mature industrial system built in China. For example, some teams are particularly good at making special effects of smoke or fire, while others are good at making character models. As our entire animation film industry booms, there will be more high-quality projects that meet industrial standards, with predictable production timelines, cycles, and budgets, to be widely promoted to the market," said Li Zhen, an animation producer.
The global box office of "Ne Zha 2", including presales, reached a new high of 11.5 billion yuan (around 1.59 billion U.S. dollars) as of Sunday morning, according to box office tracker Dengta Data.
'Ne Zha 2' an exploration for industrialized transition of China's animation industry
