Recently, with the technical support of the Beijing Film Academy’s Digital Film and Television Animation Creation Engineering Center of the Ministry of Education, Interactive Film Co., Ltd. and the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee of Jiyuan City, Henan Province jointly promoted an important project leading the film industry - the first AI large-scale animation theater The online movie “The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains” is in full swing. This 90-minute theatrical animated film is based on traditional Chinese culture and is an in-depth adaptation of the story “The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains” in “Liezi Tangwen”. The film adheres to the principle of “a play is not nonsense, an adaptation is not a random fabrication”, and aims to Inherit the great national wisdom, establish a noble national spirit, and at the same time lead social consciousness to develop in a positive direction.
In the past ten years or so, the Beijing Film Academy’s Digital Film and Television Animation Creation Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education has been at the forefront of the world and has launched many innovative works. In 2019, the Engineering Center launched the world’s first digital 8K ink animation “Harvest”, which combines Chinese ink animation with 8K ultra-high-definition technology and creates a new audio-visual experience. Under the leadership of Beijing Film Academy Vice President Sun Lijun, the Engineering Center continues to work hard to launch new works, such as the recent digital 8K Chinese New Year painting-themed animated short film “The Door God” which is about to kick off. From concept to technology to creativity, the works provide a solid foundation for the development of future films.
Different from traditional cinema movies, “The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains” has led a revolution in film production, using AI intelligent technology and integrating two-dimensional animation, three-dimensional animation, AIGC, real-life shooting, computer CG, XR and other high-precision Technical means have improved the efficiency of production and redefined industry standards for film production, sales and dissemination. This work not only improves production efficiency, shortens the production cycle, and reduces production costs, but also creates shake-free AI images and cinema-level ultra-high-quality pictures, bringing unprecedented changes to film technology.
“The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains” is not only the first AI animated feature film, but also an active exploration of the combination of artificial intelligence creation (AIGC) and Chinese aesthetic art. It is a new integration case of traditional culture and contemporary technology. It will be launched in two versions, one of which is a theater movie version with “full process technology” and the other is a metaverse movie version with “intelligent interaction”. This marks the first time in the world that the concepts of “artificial intelligence” and “metaverse” have been applied to film and television works at the same time, with epoch-making advanced concepts and highly integrated technical standards.
This project has the potential for sustainable development and will lead the future development of the film industry. We look forward to the attention and cooperation of the entire industry to witness this far-reaching journey of film technology innovation.
The Engineering Research Center for Digital Film and Television Animation Creation of the Ministry of Education, based on the principle of “focusing on national strategies, applying research, and striving for the forefront”, through the cooperation of Beijing Film Academy Animation School, Film and Television Technology Research Institute, Art Department, Photography Department, Recording Department and other parties, Joining hands with Microsoft Research Asia, film and animation companies, and relevant management departments, we have extensively exchanged ideas with international R&D institutions to build a demonstration base in the modern service industry. It gathers key digital film and television animation technology research and development, achievement transformation platform, as well as talent training, film and television animation product research and development and technology promotion, providing a solid foundation for the development of the digital film and television animation field, forming a cooperation between government, industry, academia, research and application. chain, setting a new paradigm for the industry.
