On July 22, the fantasy action masterpiece "Under the Strangers" directed by "The Trilogy" director Wu Ershan held its premiere in Beijing, and jointly held the "Summer of Strangers" party with the movie channel . The format of this premiere can be called "unprecedented". The actors transformed themselves into different people with different styles, broke through the dimensional wall and came to the audience, setting off a summer carnival that was "exhilarating". The film will be released nationwide on July 26.
A group photo of the main creative staff
Wu Ershan is obsessed with Chinese comic adaptations, "I must make this movie"
Earlier that day, "Under the Stranger" had its premiere at the cinema. Director and screenwriter Wu Ershan, original author Mi Er, together with co-director Xia Peng, action director Wu Gang, art director Qiu Sheng, and styling director Four Seasons, editing director Huang Shuo, visual effects director Sun Min, music director Meng Kezhuolan, sound directors Wang Gang, Liu Xiaosha, production director Sun Ye and other behind-the-scenes creators of the crew chatted with the first batch of audiences about "building a world of Chinese superpowers" Behind the scenes.
"Under the Stranger" poster
The film is adapted from the "peak Chinese comic" "Under One Man", which has exceeded 30 billion views in just 8 years of serialization. The huge supernatural world view is breathtaking, and the rich and bizarre character settings can all be found in traditional Chinese culture. Tracing the source. Director Wu Ershan said that he was deeply fascinated by this, "I have always been eager to make a movie adapted from Chinese supernatural comics. After filming "The Trilogy of the Gods", I told myself that I must make this movie. "
"In terms of the selection of actors, we strive to be close to the images in the original comics. To this end, a 6-month audition was conducted for actors. Three actors for each role entered the training camp. After 6 months of continuous training, they had to Studying acting and traditional martial arts. After three more makeup trials, auditions and action assessments, the current lineup of 'The Stranger' in the movie was finally determined," Wu Ershan said. Talking about the difficulty of bringing comics to the big screen, he believes that the biggest challenge is how to retain the best parts of comics within a limited time and how to create a "comic-style" viewing experience for the audience.
"Under the Stranger" is the first time that live-action animation combined with artificial intelligence technology has been applied to theatrical film production. This is also the creative team's tribute to the "peak Chinese comic". Director Xia Peng shared this, "We chose traditional hand-painted copies to preserve the details of the actors' performances, and integrated artificial intelligence technology in the post-production process to make the pictures full of painterly visual tension. This is so that the audience can be immersed in it. Feel the various joys, anger, sorrows and joys in the alien world in the comics, and enjoy the novel experience of the fusion of the two dimensions and the three dimensions.”
Director and screenwriter Wu Ershan, original author Mi Er
Mi Er, the original author, also believes that this presentation method is very novel, "I was also very surprised by the effect of the film. The overall adaptation of the film was very smooth, and some of the changes were also very exciting. It can be said that it can not only ensure the accuracy of the performance, but also realize the Visual stylization.”
According to reports, Wu Ershan had communicated with Mi Er many times before the filming of the film started, and Mi Er also participated in various stages of film creation. From the very beginning of the planning meeting, Mi Er was invited by the director to discuss a lot of details about the original intention of the creation, world view, character background, etc. He also came to the "Irregular Training Camp" during the actor's makeup trial to witness everyone's hard work and practice. In addition, Wu Ershan also arranged a role for Mi Er. I believe that after the film is officially released, which of his own characters will be played by the original author will definitely trigger extensive discussions among fans.
All members practice martial arts, and there are linkage "Easter eggs" between "Under the Stranger" and "The Trilogy of the Gods"
At the party held that night, in order to allow the audience to experience the charm of the alien world immersively, the actors performed on stage in character costumes to continue the film's story. In the movie, sophomore Zhang Chulan (played by Hu Xianxu) originally lived a peaceful campus life. As the secret that he is the successor of the peerless Kung Fu "Qi Ti Origin" is made public, various forces start a fierce competition around him. "One minute on stage, ten years of hard work off stage." In order to better demonstrate Zhang Chulan's "hidden master" temperament, Hu Xianxu not only did a lot of fitness and shaping, successfully lost 15 pounds, but also learned Bagua from scratch. Zhang, Bajiquan and other traditional martial arts.
Hu Xianxu
During the interview session at the party, Hu Xianxu said that Zhang Chulan’s greatest charm is that he is “extremely smart, extremely smooth, and at the same time upholds his own creed and maintains his sincerity.” As the actor who plays Zhang Chulan’s grandfather Zhang Xilin, Shang Tielong said that educating Zhang Chulan to learn to hide himself from an early age is to hope that he can live a peaceful life. “This has nothing to do with the identity of a foreigner, it is just a grandfather’s expectations for his grandson in life. Love.”
Hu Xianxu, Shang Tielong
Feng Baobao, who has silently protected Zhang Chulan for many years in the film, is tearful. Actor Li Wanda explained to the audience, "Baobao Feng is as pure and authentic as a child. She is like a baby in her heart, but she is a peerless master. She often suppresses the opponent with super high force of 'no move to win, but one move'." She also revealed He said that he had not put aside his efforts in studying in the "Foreigner Training Camp". After the filming, he continued to study martial arts with Zhou Xiaofei, the martial arts instructor at the training camp, and won the first prize in Bajiquan at the 2024 Beijing Traditional Martial Arts Championship and the Beijing International Martial Arts Invitational Tournament.
Li Wanda
The all-sexists in the film advocate "all-sex fidelity and wanton behavior" and often stray outside the rules of the alien world. Feng Shaofeng, who plays "Bane Seedling" Shen Chong, said that the character is set up as an exquisite mysophobia who needs to wear a suit to fight and keep his movements cool. To this end, he learned Jeet Kune Do from scratch and watched many film and television works to study "how to fight without being restricted by suits." Also practicing martial arts with zero foundation is Naran. In order to show Xia He’s skillful movements and movements with the “Bone Scraper”, she practiced Bagua Zhang, Bajiquan, and Snake Fist in the “Irregular Training Camp”. 5 traditional martial arts within. The "Alien Girl Group" with both good looks and martial arts in the movie also left a deep impression on everyone. Naran recalled, "Every girl in the camp is very tough and independent. During the hard training, everyone will learn from each other." Come on and support each other.”
All-sex school
Dou Mei, one of the "Four Madnesses" and the "intestinal poisoner", is the screen debut of Liu Chunyan, the host who has grown up with generations of audiences. In the interview, she shared her feelings about starring in a movie for the first time, "Actually, this role is very different from my previous image. I refused it at first. Later, I asked my daughter for her opinion, and I didn't expect that she would be the character in the comic "Under One Person" "I am a big fan of "Thunder Smoke Cannon" Gao Ning, who always appears in the same frame as Dou Mei in the film, and his pot-bellied figure is hilarious. In order to present a highly "face-friendly" caricature image, the actor Sang Ping revealed that the first makeup test took 6 hours. "The scalp, face, chin, belly, and ears were all glued on, and then the colors were unified and done as a whole. Effect."
At the party, the creators also shared "Easter eggs" for the collaboration between "Under the Stranger" and "The Gods Trilogy". Cheng Yijie, who plays Feng Xingtong, revealed that although his father Feng Zhenghao and himself were both Jiling generals, the image his father "summoned" was that of the four generals of the Demon family, while his own was Nezha. Lei Zhenzi's motion capture actor Han Pengyi in "The Trilogy of the Gods" "conquered" many netizens with his precise and delicate acting skills. This time, he plays two roles in "Under the Stranger" - Jiyun, a disciple of Tianyi Sect, and Liu Fang, a disciple of Tianjin Wei Xiaotaoyuan, allowing the audience to see his "true face". In order to present a highly "face-friendly" comic image, Han Pengyi also used special effects makeup when playing Jiyun. By "reshaping" the ears, nose and other parts, the comic character came into reality.
