On July 9, a seminar on the animated short film “Huangtupo” directed by Sun Lijun was held in Beijing. Many literary theorists and film and television researchers watched the short film and discussed it in depth. They believe that the film provides new inspiration for the development of Chinese animation through its adherence to tradition and innovative exploration, and is also the best commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Mr. Huang Zhou’s birth.
The work accurately captures the essence of Huang Zhou’s painting
The Chinese animation school has always occupied an important position in the world animation landscape with its unique national cultural heritage and artistic style. From the early creation of “The Trouble in the Studio” which drew on the nutrients of folk art and traditional painting, to “The Tadpole Looking for His Mother” which used ink and wash techniques to create a new form of world animation, to “Havoc in Heaven” which carries Chinese myths and legends and amazes the world with its unique artistic style, the Chinese animation school has been constantly exploring and innovating. As one of the representatives of the Chinese animation school, Sun Lijun has been working in the field of animation for many years. The animation works he directed, such as “Little Soldier Zhang Ga”, “Legend of the Rabbit Hero”, “Autumn Fruit”, “Sanchakou”, etc., not only lead the trend in technology, but also deeply cultivate the excellent traditional Chinese cultural elements in content, and have won numerous awards internationally.
Sun Lijun introduced on the spot that the inspiration for the creation of “Loess Slope” came from a conversation between him and Huang Zhou’s wife Zheng Wenhui in 2018. The latter suggested that the donkey painted by Huang Zhou be presented in the form of animation so that more people can feel the charm of traditional Chinese painting. The project was quickly approved, but due to technical difficulties, the project was not implemented until 2022.
“Western 3D technology has no problem with simulation, but as we all know, Chinese freehand ink painting emphasizes artistic conception, and it is difficult for Western technology to reach our standards in this regard.” Sun Lijun said that although he had previously made works in the style of Qi Baishi, Mr. Huang Zhou’s style was “small freehand”, which was different from Qi Baishi’s “large freehand”. In the end, the team achieved its creative goal through technological innovation. The “Loess Slope” now presented on the screen has both the sketching characteristics of Western paintings and the characteristics of Huang Zhou’s paintings; at the same time, the picture also incorporates the characteristics of ink painting of the older generation of artists. “We no longer present it purely as an ink animation, but make it more international.”
“Loess Slope” breaks the traditional animation linear narrative and complex plot structure mode, and builds the story framework with six scenes of “Spring Start, Summer Search, Autumn Confusion, Winter Protection, Rainy Farewell, Reincarnation” with oriental imagery. With the life journey of old and young donkeys on the loess plateau as the main line, the themes of growth, inheritance, and separation are integrated into the narrative framework, deeply exploring the philosophical thoughts on reincarnation and inheritance in Chinese traditional culture.
In terms of artistic style, “Loess Slope” inherits the unique ink-wash effect of Chinese ink-wash animation. With nature as the background, through the appropriate shades of ink-wash, the texture of the loess plateau becomes the natural background of the picture, and the donkey’s hoof prints of different shades become the visual symbol of the narrative, showing the change of seasons and the cycle of life, creating a picture with a strong oriental aesthetic conception. At the same time, the image design of the donkey in the film accurately captures the essence of Mr. Huang Zhou’s painting of “both form and spirit”, which is vivid and full of vitality, allowing the traditional painting art to be innovatively presented in the innovative carrier of “mud as paper”.
Huangtupo actively embraces cutting-edge digital technology
“Loess Slope” actively embraces cutting-edge digital technology in technical application. In character creation, high-precision 3D modeling and skeletal animation technology are used to accurately restore the donkey’s muscle dynamics and delicate expressions, making every movement of the character stepping on the loess natural and smooth, echoing the idea of ”footprints as pens”; virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology are used in scene construction to visualize the concept of “mud as paper” and construct an immersive loess plateau scene. From the microscopic land texture to the macroscopic mountains and rivers, the texture of “mud” becomes the core narrative element of the picture, enhancing the three-dimensionality and realism of the picture. Its team always adheres to the principle of “technology serving art” in the application of technology. By optimizing the rendering algorithm, the natural blurring of ink and wash and the precise control of digital technology are balanced, which not only breaks through the limitations of the efficiency of traditional ink animation production, but also retains the implicit characteristics of oriental aesthetics.
Renowned literary critic Zhong Chengxiang believes that “Yellow Earth Slope” incorporates the exploration of the modernization of animation narrative - using the simplest visual language to carry the deepest cultural philosophy, providing a new paradigm for the international expression of the Chinese animation school.
Song Zhiqin, executive deputy director of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Film Art Center, commented that “Yellow Earth Slope”, with its core idea of ”using mud as paper and footprints as pen”, provides a very valuable research sample for the inheritance and innovation of the Chinese animation school in the new era.
Xu Fusheng, the first disciple of Huang Zhou and a famous painter, said excitedly that this year is the 100th anniversary of Mr. Huang Zhou’s birth. The launch of such an excellent animation work as “Loess Slope”, inspired by the artistic charm of the donkeys painted by Mr. Huang Zhou, allows the traditional painting spirit and animation art to achieve a cross-time and space dialogue, “which is undoubtedly the best way to commemorate Mr. Huang Zhou.”
Editor: Wang Jinyue
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