"The Deer Bell" is adapted from the beautiful legend spread in the "White Deer Cave Academy". It is written by Sang Hu and directed by Tang Cheng and Wu Qiang. It is an ink painting produced by Shanghai Art Film Studio (hereinafter referred to as "Shangmei Film") in 1982. The animated short film has been broadcast on the "Relive the Classics" channel.
The China Television Arts Committee specially invited Mr. Chang Guangxi, the former director of Shangmei Film and the animation designer of "Deer Bell", to review the creation story of the film, understand the traditional aesthetic concepts that the main creators tried to present, and analyze the innovation and innovation of ink animation made by this work. breakthrough.
"Deer Bells" is Shangmei Film's third ink cartoon after "Tadpoles Looking for Mom" and "Mu Flute". The screenwriter Mr. Sang Hu's films are famous for their diverse themes. This is also his first time to be associated with art films. . The film tells the story of the granddaughter of an old pharmacist who rescued a fawn from the vicious talons of an eagle while gathering herbs. During the days of getting along with the fawn, they developed a deep relationship. Later, before the fawn returned to nature, the girl took the deer with her. The bell is tied to the deer and it bids farewell, showing the harmonious symbiosis between man and nature.
The film invited the master of traditional Chinese painting Cheng Shifa as the art designer. His profound ink painting background and the painting characteristics of figures, flowers and birds coincide with the artistic positioning of the film, making the film a new exploration of ink animation.
In order to get familiar with life, directors Tang Cheng and Wu Qiang led the original painting and background teams to Mount Emei and Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan to experience life. Mount Emei is the holy land of Buddhism in China, and Mount Qingcheng is the holy land of Taoism in China. The philosophical concept of "harmony between man and nature" in Chinese culture has inspired our ink animation.
Fortunately, teacher Cheng Shifa took the trouble to experience mountain climbing with us, collect materials, and communicated with us cordially during the journey of collecting scenery. He talked about everything about art and life, without any pretense of a master. From him, we not only listened to his ink painting preaching, but also realized his professionalism and personality charm. Later, we found a deer farm, interacted closely with the deer, and went to a folk market in Sichuan to experience the fireworks of the world. We gained a lot and prepared a lot of materials for the next stage of production.
Different from the previous two ink films "Tadpole Looking for Mom" and "The Flute", this film uses realism to interpret the story. Many characters such as the old pharmacist and the butcher, as well as rural markets are described, which poses a great challenge to the simple traditional ink film. The director provided us with a detailed analysis of the character's personality, character performance, and the characteristics of emotional communication between humans and animals. After constant discussion and communication, and with the efforts of the team, the character performance task was successfully completed. The design of the girl and the deer also achieved the character's personality. Highlight and empathize with people's requirements. At the same time, photographer Duan Xiaoxuan carefully studied the characteristics of teacher Cheng Shifa's flower and bird ink paintings, and made new explorations in the color separation of human and deer ink. It can be said that the film's character performances and ink technology have made new breakthroughs, and have been recognized by the audience.
Author: Chang Guangxi (former director and director of Shanghai Art Film Studio, animation designer of "Deer Bell")
Planning: Su Da (Art Director of Shanghai Art Film Studio)
