China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 469 Baymax and "Inside Out"

The unexpected "deviant" marketing results of "Wall-E" not only stunned peers, but also surprised the media and many netizens who participated in this online carnival consciously or unconsciously.

Although this kind of marketing techniques have existed in the past, they were never on such a large scale or with such good results.

Several major short video platforms have experienced rapid expansion in the past two years, and the prosperity of short video platforms has just begun. The cute marketing of the short video of "Wall-E" relied on the short video platform to achieve viral marketing.

During this period, although some movies began to use short video platforms for promotion, the effect was far less than that of "Wall-E".

It can be said that this is the first time that people across the country have witnessed such a marketing hit.

The main reason is that "Wall-E", a two-minute cute short film composed of two or three groups of short stories, is a natural fit for the short-sighted platform. The quality of the short film is also very high, and it fully demonstrates Wall-E's cute image and body language.

Coupled with the interesting interactions with the environment and other DreamWorks film and television animation characters, it makes people want to stop.

After seeing such a good response, the DreamWorks marketing department quickly launched a comprehensive publicity campaign on foreign online media and social platforms, especially on YouTube, Twitter and the emerging TikTok.

Wall-E, an animated image without the support of film and television works, strangely began to become popular at home and abroad. This was accompanied by not only the rapid increase in the attention of the "Wall-E" animated film, but also the hot sales of peripheral products.

DreamWorks' internal computer animation department also praised its boss's genius.

Xiang Xuan rolled his eyes. As DreamWorks opened more and more stalls, or dug more and more pits, it also triggered more and more complaints from the audience and fans. The animation department alone had enough on hand to make sequels.

An animated series or movie makes his scalp numb.

The only problem is that the domestic box office was not good enough, not even 100 million.

And the key point is that the character Baymax is also one of the classic cute characters in the history of animation. One of the great benefits of the popularity of cute animated characters is the high peripheral income.

But the strange thing is that the round and fat outline outlined by this simple line, coupled with the two points and one line on the oval head, can give him a naive impression.

It is similar to the CG preview in special effects movies.

Chen Jingxing looked at the story video of "Inside Out" projected in front and whispered: "Concentrate all resources on "Inside Out" and "Panda II" can be slowly produced."

However, Chen Jingxing didn't think this was an obstacle. To be honest, "District 9" was not a box office bomb. Although the actual results exceeded his expectations, his decision to produce "District 9" was not for the box office.

It is common to find material in traditional mythology, or it is related to pandas, kung fu and the like.

Regarding the director's evaluation, another project leader Li Chun began to dismantle his immediate boss in front of Chen Jingxing: "Brother Xiang, you complained before that this animation image was too hasty and crude, but now you can immediately feel that it is different."

The charm?"

After everyone else laughed, they looked at the image on the screen and fell into deep thought. The more they looked at it, the more interesting it became.

In addition to "Inside Out", there is another "Big Hero 6". Of course, Chen Jingxing wanted to call it "Baymax" directly, and it was also included in the schedule of the animation department.

It is a gorgeous and scientific imagination that personifies the five basic emotions of happiness, sadness, fear, disgust and anger.

For example, many of the character images in "Kung Fu Panda" and "Wall-E" were directly designed by Chen Jingxing. Xiang Xuan is more fond of the character image in "Kung Fu Panda". In contrast, he actually designed the image of Wall-E.

Not too cold.

This is why Chen Jingxing decided to use "The Return of the Monkey King" and "Kung Fu Panda" to break the ice and cultivate movie-watching habits.

Chen Jingxing got to the point: "Okay, don't flatter me. Baymax's animation is not urgent yet, and we can't spare enough manpower. Has the story video of "Inside Out" been completed?"

This is an animation suitable for adults to watch.

It wasn't until he was acquired by DreamWorks that he began to focus on animation production.

From scripts to character design, to storyboards and story tapes, these pre-production work are the most time-consuming.

There are only two black dots on the oval head, connected by a line in the middle, which constitute the facial features.

It often even takes a year or two to determine.

For example, it's been three years since "Battleship" and "Enter the 4.6 Billion Reprise", but I still can't find the time to produce them.

Of course, first of all, the domestic market is not very receptive to the theme of animated films. Most animated films that have achieved good box office results in the country in the past life basically have to be related to big IPs.

The animation production after the final draft is on the contrary, is a mechanical work that accumulates manpower, material resources and computing power.

Therefore, it is also one of the best animated films produced by Pixar in Chen Jingxing's personal opinion in the previous life. It is also almost the highest-grossing non-sequel animated film by Pixar in the world. It has achieved 860 million in China with almost no box office.

Dollar score.

In other words, this science fiction animation is the imagination itself.

Perhaps it was because Wall-E marketing broke out of the industry and became a new generation of cute creatures, so Xiang Xuan, who had already recognized the fact that Big Boss has extraordinary talent in animated character design, re-watched this simple animation called Dabai.

When you play a character, you can suddenly feel the charm of a certain innate cuteness in him.

And with the image design ability that can keenly grasp the cuteness and capture the hearts of the audience, it is definitely enough to become a top animation master.

It’s just because of Chen Jingxing’s bug that the creative-focused pre-production work will be greatly shortened, so DreamWorks’ animated films can be produced so quickly.

If he particularly cared about profits, he wouldn't have made "Aquila Warrior" and "Special Mobile Team".

"Inside Out" is the next animated film that Chen Jingxing assigned to the animation department after the filming of "Inception" was completed. It has only been more than four months since the pre-production work has been basically completed.

Especially as one of the founders of Mo, Xiang Xuan's main job was originally special effects production. His talents and advantages have always been more technical, and he is not so outstanding in artistic design.

Let’s make up for the money “lost” in “Inside Out” by Baymax.

It looks uglier than ordinary Chinese character strokes.

And the most important thing is that these novel knowledge concepts are perfectly combined with the plot, and it can be called a popular science movie that is both educational and entertaining.

Animation Department Director Xiang Xuan was holding a tablet and looking at a strange robot on the screen - not the little robot WALL-E.

Secondly, the initial impression of "Inside Out" is relatively low-key. With several colorful villains standing in the poster, it is difficult for people to think of the possibilities other than the animation of "The Great Sage".

, animations like "Panda" are at an absolute disadvantage in comparison.

That is to say, the viewing experience of real children watching "Inside Out" in the cinema is not comparable to that of adults, and they may not even be able to understand it.

This is Xiang Xuan's sincere praise. Chen Jingxing's imagination and storytelling ability are excellent. Chen Jingxing has been deeply involved in the creation of most of DreamWorks' animation works.

The story tape is to use a "pre-editor" to scan the story sketches on the storyboard, which can be understood as a comic strip with storyboards, into the computer one by one, with dialogue, simple sound effects and soundtrack, and use the film's

Time time narrative edited into story video.

But after he started making animations, he became more and more aware of the charm of this character.

"There are three years in three years. Don't be afraid of being late for a good meal. The longer you wait, the sweeter the fruit will be."

It involves some brain science, such as the storage and fading of long-term memory, abstract thinking and cognitive shortcuts, key events and character shaping, rapid eye movement sleep and dreaming, the locked-up subconscious and other not-so-explicit knowledge.

Of course, with the computer animation department's current ongoing projects and human resources, "Baymax" may not be finished within two years.

"Boss, if you work in the animation industry, you will definitely become the world's top animation master."

DreamWorks is not short of money now, and Chen Jingxing still hopes to leave as many science fiction masterpieces as possible. Even if the box office prospects may not be ideal, in the long run, the brand support of DreamWorks will be immeasurable.

"Now I know why, boss, you insisted on designing such a strange robot. It does have a chubby and naive temperament."

Xiang Xuan glared at his subordinates: "My first impression was indeed a bit hasty. The image designed by the boss does become more interesting the more I look at it."

Wu Han, deputy director of the animation department, also echoed: "This is called skillful and clumsy, complex and simple."

"Then "Panda II" will probably be three years away from the first one?"

The prototype background of this animated film has a Japanese urban style, and the main protagonist group is basically Japanese. It is not difficult to switch to a Chinese background.

Then there is the most important reason. Under the juvenile appearance, the story and connotation of "Inside Out" are adult, even a little complicated.

An excellent animator may not be proficient in everything and be strong in all aspects.

Everyone watches the story video together to see if the narrative is smooth enough, the emotions fluctuate, whether there are flaws in the narrative rhythm, and whether the character image needs to be changed. This is the final step in the pre-production work of an animated film.

Xiang Xuan consulted his boss's opinion with some distress. It was the company's previous plan to bring an excellent animated film to the people of the country during the Spring Festival every year.

There are no classic characters that are too cute, the initial impression is very young, it has nothing to do with love or mythology, and there is no foundation of IP. Moreover, children cannot understand the plot, and it has even been classified as a "brain-burning movie" by some viewers.

The combination really fits the definition of box office poison perfectly.

In Chen Jingxing's opinion, "Inside Out" is a very unique science fiction animated film. It is the first science fiction animation to feature the five main human emotions.

Today was his first meeting with the computer animation department after the company moved to its new headquarters. The main topic was to watch the story video of the animated movie "Inside Out" together.

"The storyboard for "Kung Fu Panda II" has also been completed. If both films are produced at the same time, I'm afraid they won't be able to make it in time for the Spring Festival the year after next."

The outline is basically composed of several curves.

Instead, he was a fat, snow-white figure, as if he were a crude image drawn at random using the simplest simple drawings.

What Xiang Xuan said was really not flattery.

The third season of "Star Gods" is a two-dimensional animation, but it is already in production. "Battleship" and "Evolution" are both three-dimensional animations, but now all three-dimensional animation production resources are occupied by special effects and animated films. They can only be produced in

Animation fans continued to criticize me.

But since the boss doesn't care, there's no need for him to be anxious.

The audience itself is a group accustomed to waiting.

Chen Jingxing added nonchalantly: "Don't worry, campus recruitment will be held next month, and will continue next year. I will definitely supplement the labor force for you, and you will have time to show your talents."

(End of chapter)