The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped China’s film-making. Due to the pandemic, 50 to 60% of the movie footage was finished online in a film production company. However, the situation brought an opportunity to explore virtual production and the company has laid a solid technological foundation in this field.
Virtual production has great potential in China with its record-high box office income and first-class Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations and industry. Virtual production, which allows directors to see special effects beforehand, cuts production costs by half and improves efficiency. It also bridges western technologies and Chinese culture and stories. China has two unique advantages in virtual production with sufficient box office revenue to support new technologies and innovations and world-leading AI development
Virtual production uses a suite of software tools to combine live-action footage and computer graphics in real-time. Filmmakers across multiple locations can deliver feedback across digital or physical environments where cast members are physically working on set. The technology cuts production costs by half and improves efficiency. Virtual production is being used in Chinese stories to make them more familiar and acceptable to young people.
Regarding digital technology in film-making, the gap between China and western countries is sharply narrowing in recent years. Chinese companies now have very good technology to produce high-quality films. Supported by sufficient technology, what matters now is imagination and creativity.
The Deputy general manager of State Production of China Film Group stated that China currently has a good technology foundation in film-making, but they do not have enough good stories. Creating good stories is what they need to figure out in developing the Chinese film industry. Virtual production helps artists bring Chinese culture, people’s daily lives, and family stories to the world, compared with just martial arts that were preferred previously.
Smart technologies such as virtual production will finally replace current technologies. The entry threshold in film and special effects production will be lower for more artists. On average, virtual and AI technology adoption can help producers cut costs by 50 to 70%.
According to a paper about the impact of digital technology on China’s film industry, the film new technical revolution has been brought because of the digital technology application. The film art development also has been injected new vitality. The film industry has been restructured and developed because of the integration of the internet and film industry. The combination of the internet and technology can play an important part in relevant industry
From the last century, a series of new digital technology such as computer graphics technology, digital audio synthesis technology, 3D technology, digital processing technology, electronic digital information technology, 3D animation, virtual technology brings the audience incredible three-dimensional enjoyment and new audio-visual experience. The ways of film production, film distribution and film storage change a lot.
As China continued to utilise digital technology in various fields, the government also aims to improve its citizens’ digital skills. As reported by OpenGov Asia, the Cyberspace Administration recently released a report on the development of Digital China, saying that China gained the world’s second-largest digital economic aggregate during its 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), making digitalisation a key to boosting high-quality economic growth. The Gross domestic product (GDP) attributable to the added value of core digital industries was 7.8% in 2020.
Setting professional standards and specifications for innovative digital technical talents is also an indispensable way for talent development. A netizen is a basic object and the primary unit of the internet world and their digital capacity is the future of the internet and digitalisation. progress in the digital society is based on digital technologies the development of which calls for digital skill. Improving people’s digital technical skills, therefore, plays a crucial role in social development.
