Eleven years later, the new animated film "Out of the Earth" adapted from "Star Travels" has set sail. Director Hu Yibo and his team took six years to create it and it will be released nationwide on July 16.

The film tells the story of the universe encountering an energy crisis. In the name of protecting the earth, the higher forces Galaxy Eye plotted the "Sky Wall Project" in an attempt to turn the earth into the "power bank" of the universe. The earth will soon be forced to become a victim of higher galaxies. Against this background, Maidang, a young man who regards flying as his ideal, unexpectedly shoulders the important task of breaking out of the earth and defending his homeland.

"Star Travels" has a score of 9.6 on Douban.

As an IP that has been accumulated for more than ten years, among theatrical animated films, the release of "Out of the Earth" is a special existence worth mentioning. In recent years, most of the domestic animated films for all ages are based on Chinese mythological stories . Since "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage", domestic animated films have set off a craze for new myths and legends. "Nezha: The Devil Boy Comes into the World", "White Snake: The Origin", "Jiang Ziya" and several "Yang Jian" animations to be released in the future have continued the creative ideas of myth adaptation. Although these animations have achieved good results at the box office, they have also caused domestic animated films to fall into a dilemma of homogeneity.

Looking back at science fiction-themed animation works, a large number of high-quality science fiction animation works have emerged in Hollywood and Japan, but Chinese animation is still rarely involved in the field of science fiction. Just like McDonald heading to the Rainbow Sea, Hu Yibo also wants to take an adventure in the field of science fiction animation and open up a new direction for Chinese animation.

Stills of "Out of the Earth"

In order to combine national style with science fiction and create a science fiction animation with Chinese characteristics, the creative team conducted research in old Beijing alleys , Anshan old factories and other places, and constantly overturned the scene design. , striving to build a world that is authentic, credible, and familiar. On the screen, the film combines the national style of "old Beijing" with the future "sci-fi" imagination: the antique bell and drum tower confronts the technological Galaxy Eye, the majestic factory with undercurrents looks at the peaceful Chinatown...you can choose it. Get a glimpse of the team's imagination in scene collision.

The creative process of "Out of the Earth" not only tested the imagination of the main creative team, but also required the "hard work" spirit of the creators. According to statistics, from 2021 to 2022, among the 56 new domestic animated films released, only 9 are two-dimensional animations. When "two-dimensional hand-painted" is no longer the mainstream in the market, the creative team has shown its ingenuity and romance in adhering to two-dimensionality: the film took six years to produce, with more than 120,000 hand-painted drafts weighing one ton. It took three months to produce just one "long shot" of a cityscape. The quality and quantity of the special effects and fighting shots can be regarded as the conscience of national comics.

Stills of "Out of the Earth"

As the passionate youth memories of the post-95s and post-00s generations, in the past 11 years, this IP has experienced dramas and online animated movies. The story of "Rainbow Sea" will finally be relevant to the audience in the cinema. See you again, this meeting in the theater has special meaning for Star Tour fans and director Hu Yibo.

In fact, "Star Travels" was born in 2011, which was the era when the Chinese animation market was dominated by works for younger audiences. The poor premiere of CCTV made the team lament that it was "untimely". "Star Travels" was originally scheduled to be 52 episodes long. "" ended up being discontinued after only 25 episodes. After all, the audience was not able to see the protagonist McDonald reach the promised rainbow sea. Later, the webcast of "Star Travels" "accidentally" reached the youth group and became very popular. Over the past ten years, Chinese comics have gradually developed, and the age expansion of the animation market has rekindled the determination of this "national comic legacy pearl" to fly again.

This time "Out of the Earth" will continue the "hot-blooded middle school sense and youthful spirit" of the characters in the original "Star Travels", and tell an adventure story that is different from the original story setting, using a " parallel universe " gesture, returning to the origins of "Star Travels".

Screenshot of "Star Travels"

"Out of the Earth" continues the "hot-blooded sense of middle school and youthfulness" of the characters in the original "Star Travels"

In 2010, Hu Yibo, who had just graduated, participated in the production of the animation "Star Travels". Now he It has also passed the age of thirty. More than 10 years have passed, and the animation industry has changed, as has his age and experience. What remains unchanged is his persistence in "Star Travels". From TV series to online movies to his first movie on the big screen, he has never forgotten that. The promise of a rainbow sea.

In 2017, " Star Travels: Storm Farmira " was launched on iQiyi . This movie was originally planned to be three parts. After the second part was launched in 2020, due to poor reputation and playback volume, Hu Yibo once posted a "farewell letter" on Weibo, saying that the "Star Travels: Storm Familla" online movie project has come to an end, and "Storm Familla 2" will become the last film in the series.

Over the years, Hu Yibo has lived in the universe of "Star Travels", even far more than the time he spent with his family and friends in life. "Star Travels" has already become a part of his life. Sometimes he doesn't quite know whether it is he who shapes the story, or whether the story in turn shapes him. He said: "Whenever I encounter difficulties and can't persevere, a character like McDonald will appear in my mind and say, 'It doesn't matter, let's try again, let's not give up.' It seems that I got these virtual characters instead. The feedback is that they protected such a corner of my heart during the difficult creative process. The boy in me was protected by them, step by step until now."

Before the film was released, Hu Yibo accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper. , telling the story of his journey to the "rainbow sea" in his heart.

Hu Yibo

[Dialogue]

The hot-blooded boy always stands on the side of the "egg"

The Paper News: The construction and erection of the worldview in science fiction themes is very important. Can you introduce the worldview of "Out of the Earth"?

Hu Yibo: We have a core concept in called the regenerative ball system. Technology has been advancing continuously, but the development of science and technology is restricted by energy. As energy is exhausted, it will be difficult for civilization on the planet to develop further. The regenerative ball system can absorb star-level energy. The premise of our story is that every civilization in the universe needs strong energy support so that civilization can enter the next level. There is an evil civilization that hopes to turn the earth in the film into a regenerative ball to absorb the energy of stars in order to relieve the energy crisis in the universe. This is the premise of the story.

Based on this world view, we think more about how to construct this imaginary world. Although the place where the story takes place is nominally called the Earth, it is not actually the Earth in our real life. It has its own unique humanistic state.

Stills from "Out of the Earth"

The Paper News: In the past, we have seen that most animation settings are retroactive to the past, but will "future-oriented" animation be more difficult to create?

Hu Yibo: Personally, feels more difficult.For example, when doing some adaptations of ancient themes, there are some well-known background settings that do not need to be explained. Who is Chang'e in Chang'e Flying to the Moon? Why did Hou Yi shoot down the sun? These are all familiar to all of us Chinese. If I want to talk about a certain dynasty, I can find relevant historical information. I can have some current references for the architectural styles and people's clothing at that time. But if we tell a story about the future, we need to figure it out completely by ourselves. We don’t know whether the design is right. Is this arrangement of and the optimal solution? There may be a lot of iterations and constant attempts in this process.

The Paper: This animation is now positioned as "national style technology". How does the design combine traditional elements with future science fiction?

Hu Yibo: There are a large number of science fiction works in Hollywood and Japan, but there are relatively few science fiction themed animations with Chinese characteristics. What I hope to create is a kind of science fiction work that is familiar to Chinese people and has a Chinese touch. It can combine the futuristic feel of things that are familiar to us in our daily lives.

We tried many different styles, and finally we settled on the old Beijing around us. I have lived in Beijing for more than 20 years and have a deep love for Beijing city . I wanted to simply integrate scenes from my own life into this science fiction theme, so I spent a long time walking around in various places to study the streets and architectural styles of Beijing hutongs, which are very urban. Then consider how to combine it with science fiction elements.

For example, there is a building in the center of the city in the film, which is a relatively sci-fi Bell and Drum Tower. I have always been particularly interested in the Bell and Drum Towers in Beijing, because no matter how the dynasties change or the time changes, they are like the evening drums and morning bells, constantly guarding the city. So we retained the very traditional architectural structure of the Bell and Drum Tower, and added a lot of metal, mechanical and technological devices; we also included very distinctive Rabbit elements, including some small signboards on the street that everyone might smile at, and some I believe many people can find a sense of intimacy in the shops and houses that are full of life.

"Out of the Earth" stills

The Paper News: , as the original creative staff of "Star Travels", during the adaptation process, what core elements of the original work should be retained? Which parts have been updated to keep pace with the times?

Hu Yibo: I think the first thing that should be retained is this very passionate sense of middle school and youthfulness. The protagonist faces strong external pressure, faces many injustices, and many oppressions, and can always resist firmly, always stand on the side of the egg, stand on the side of the weak, and fight without compromise. This is consistent .

In addition, the ethnic group character in the original work must also be maintained. When we look at foreign superhero themes, a certain person is the chosen one who is extremely powerful and can save the world. The world of "Star Travels" is not like this. The protagonist is just an ordinary boy with flesh and blood. During his adventure, he will also face powerful frictions and collisions with the world, and even feel a sense of powerlessness. There is a scene in the

film where our protagonist is shot down by the missile . When he is falling downwards, all the residents of the earth fly their kites together to help him avoid the missiles and cover the hero to fly again and break through the obstacles. What we want to express is the feelings of our Chinese people about our family and country. Our collective strength transcends individuals.

At the same time, we have created a new world view. The earth has experienced a meteorite attack. Most of the entire planet has become a waste area. Human beings cannot survive, and only a small area has been preserved. The protagonist's father wants to go to the depths of the universe to find a way to restore the earth to its original appearance. The protagonist's father's motivations and goals have changed. My father was a long-distance traveler, and home was just his starting point. This time, we made home a destination. They went on an adventure for the sake of their common home, and eventually he would return home.McDang's original goal was to break through the blockade of the villain Galaxy Eye and find his father, but in the end when he discovered that his earth home was in a huge crisis, he gave up the chance to find his father and came back to save his home. This is The difference from the original work is also our expression of our own country and homeland in this era.

"Star Journey" stills

Craftsmanship creates two-dimensional "big scenes"

The Paper News: "Out of the Earth" is a theatrical movie, so many audio-visual scenes must be upgraded. What audio-visual upgrades and attempts have been made this time?

Hu Yibo: Because of theatrical movies, we still hope to produce a particularly good picture quality. Our own film is of a two-dimensional hand-painted level of craftsmanship. It relies more on people drawing one by one, but it still has many movie-level "big scenes". It contains many high-difficulty special effects fighting scenes, which require a large number of camera movements and large-scale character movements. We actually use computer animation to simulate the two-dimensional hand-drawn style in a three-dimensional way, combined with Traditional hand-painted, the two technologies are combined to present you with flexible camera positions. Its advantage is that it can present very exaggerated movements, and at the same time it has a hand-painted picture effect.

"Out of the Earth" stills

For example, there is a scene where our protagonist avoids missile tracking. There are a lot of air combat shots, and the camera keeps rotating. It looks very cool now. There is also a scene where our villain’s base turret is destroyed by the protagonist and falls. This is also a very grand scene, and you can pay more attention to it when the time comes.

includes a scene from the film in which a kite is flown. If we use 3D software to do it, it will be relatively simple, because it has "fixed assets" and we only need to make camera movements. But if it is two-dimensional, it contains a lot of technical difficulties. A large number of characters each have to interact with the kite, and then the characters, kites, and the spacecraft and missiles flying in the air have to move in every frame. There are a lot of This kind of layering requires us to polish it frame by frame. It often happens that we have finished painting once and find that some small places do not match up.

We may have finally counted this shot. We probably divided it into more than 200 layers, and one second is about 24 frames. Every frame must be correct. This is an extremely large amount of work. This is probably what we have been working on for the longest time. lens. Nowadays, good 2D talents are becoming more and more scarce. We have always been able to complete a movie like this with very few manpower.

In addition to the picture, I believe that when everyone enters the theater, another aspect is the auditory part. This is difficult to achieve when making dramas and online movies. This time for the cinema version, we made a lot of bold innovations. In terms of music creation, we found Zhu Yunbian, the music teacher of "The Devil Boy Comes to the World" and "The Legend of Wukong", and tried a lot of symphonies and folk music to match the scenes. I have made some very large and magnificent soundtracks, which I believe will give everyone a refreshing feeling.

Hu Yibo on the set of "Out of the Earth"

The Paper: When you said goodbye to "Famila" before , you wrote in your letter that you had many regrets about this work. Are there any that can be used in this production? Got compensated?

Hu Yibo: There were indeed many regrets before . For example, the drama was always limited by the length of the series and the technical structure. In fact, it was not possible to tell the complete story. For example, in Famila, everyone always feels that the climax of the movie ends suddenly, and it feels like a complete story has not been told.

In the creation of this movie, although it is a series of world views and a huge story, I hope it is "Out of the Earth". Even if you don't know the cause and effect, you have not watched "Star Travels". That is such a story that anyone can come in and understand, and it is a very complete story that I think all audiences can understand. This can be regarded as my making up for Familla’s regret at that time.

The Paper: In recent years, we have seen that most of the popular animations on the market are three-dimensional animations. Two-dimensional animation is now almost synonymous with “craftsmanship”. In the past two years, I have often heard that a large number of animation talents have moved to the game industry. What do you think of the problem of talent loss in this category?

"Out of the Earth" stills

Hu Yibo: I think we need to face up to this problem. Whether it is the competition in the animation category itself or the flow to the game industry, it actually shows that the development in other places is more benign. The development stage It might be better. Everyone always says that the animation industry is an industry that "generates electricity with love", but it always has the problem of battery life. All animation practitioners have real-life needs, and they are all normal choices. I think this has nothing to do with it. We cannot blame other industries for robbing people.

What we need to consider is why do we have such a problem? Why can't we keep a group of people who love it so much? In fact, the fundamental reason is that the volume of works that this industry can accommodate is still far from enough, and more good works are needed to support this industry. At the same time, we need to be able to create more sustainable profit models and build it into a better ecosystem. I think this is more important.

Many people around me often talk to me, "I may have been working in a game company for a long time, but I still like to do animation." I believe that if the ecology of the animation industry becomes more benign, many people can come back.

explores the path for Chinese science fiction animation

The Paper News: From "Star Travels" in 2011 to "Out of the Earth" now, in more than ten years, what changes have happened to you and your works?

Hu Yibo: In fact, our "Star Travels" has always been a story with a hero complex, but when we were young, our views on heroes were different from now. I remember when I was creating the first season of "Star Travels", I was still a young man who had just graduated and was just starting out. At that time, I felt that a hero was someone who could go forward and change the world with his own passion. This is also similar to McDonald's situation before.

Now after 10 years, I have become a middle-aged uncle. I have experienced the frustration and powerlessness in the process of colliding with the world. I know that it is not the burning of the small universe that can change the world. This The world can be a cold place. The real hero is someone who has seen the cruelty and coldness of the real world and knows that hard work may not bring rewards and results, but is still willing to work hard. This is the image of a hero in my heart at this stage.

So this time Maidang also had such a change. In the process of constantly trying to break out of the earth, he faced many choices, faced a lot of pain, and had to pay a big price, but in the end he realized all these situations, We still have to persist in making breakthroughs and resisting.

Stills from "Out of the Earth"

After more than ten years, the time I spent with the characters in this work and the time I lived in the world in this story far exceeded the time I spent with my family and friends. time. Sometimes I feel that I actually live in two worlds, and the world of Star Travel has long been a part of my life. I remember that the day the film was finished, I felt empty in my heart, as if this matter was over and I didn’t know when I could see them again next time.

Sometimes I don’t know whether it’s me who shapes the story, or whether the story in turn shapes me. It seems that some of my views on the world, including some of my attitudes towards doing things, are influenced by the characters in the film. Sometimes I may encounter difficulties and cannot persevere, and there may be a character like McDonald in my mind. Say it doesn't matter, "Let's try again, let's not give up."

I am really grateful to these virtual characters. During these years of difficult creation, they protected the corner of my heart. The middle school boy in me was also They took care of me and got here step by step.

The Paper: After the release of the "Storm Famila" series, you also suffered a lot of criticism. Will this have an impact on your creation? How do you digest these negative comments?

Hu Yibo: I think the fate of a creator is to always face misunderstandings, the original intention of your expression, and the error in what others may ultimately accept. There will be different sounds, which is a normal situation. What we can do is draw nutrients that are meaningful to us from these different voices to help us make the next movie better step by step. I hope to resolve the regrets and criticism I have received in the past in this film. I also hope that voices from different channels can become my strength to move forward. This is more meaningful than praise.

The score of the "Storm Familla" series on Douban is in the mid-range of 6-8 points

The Paper News: In the six years since this animated film was polished, it can be seen that there are big hits on the market that break through the ceiling of animation. There are also some animations with good reputations that do not perform satisfactorily at the box office. Now that your film is finally about to be released, how are your mentality and expectations?

Hu Yibo: definitely hopes to get a good return. In this way, the entire IP can develop better, and we may have more confidence in the future to create the next work. But this industry is full of ups and downs, and there are a lot of uncertainties. We said we wanted to create an original two-dimensional science fiction work, and at the same time there would be some restrictions from the original work. From the beginning, many people questioned whether this was really true. May I? For us, we have no way to predict that this thing will definitely have a good result, so we have to do it. Just like I said just now, my understanding of the current hero is that when he faces an uncertain thing, he is still willing to try. Our mentality is also the same. Maybe our efforts in the last six years have not achieved particularly ideal results, but I think this industry always needs someone to do something different, so we hope to bring something other than mythology to the audience. In addition to the national style themes, there is a Chinese science fiction path of its own.

Editor in charge: Zhang Zhe

Proofreader: Liu Wei