Focus to the key changes to Chinese Film HistoryWord格式.docx
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FutureofBeijingFilmIndustry
Contents
Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------3
BeijingFilmIndustrySuccess-------------------------------------------------5
WhyandWhatisPortfolio------------------------------------------------------7
Conclusion-------------------------------------------------------------------------11
Reference--------------------------------------------------------------------------13
IntroductiontotheHistoryofFilmIndustryinChina
AccordingtoChina.org(2005),thefirstfilmscreenedinChinawasshowninShanghaiinAugust1896.ThefollowingyearfilmsproducedbyEdisonwerescreened.In1898,photographerssenttoChinabyEdisonshotfootageforadocumentarycalledChinaHonourGuard.InJanuary1902,filmswereintroducedtoBeijingwiththescreeningoftheextraordinarilytitledBlackPeopleEatWaterMelonalongwithanumberofothercomicshorts.AdaptedfromaBeijingoperabytheBeijingFengtaiPhotoStudioandTanXinpei,arenownedPekingOperaperformer,thefirstChinesefilmwasTheBattleofDingjinshan(alsotranslatedasConqueringJunMountainandTheBattleofMountDingjun)producedbyRenJingfengin1905.
In1907theBeijingGrandTheatrewasrefurbishedtofacilitateprojectionfacilitiesandthefirstcustombuiltcinema,financedbyforeigninvestors,Ping’anMovie,opened.However,theChinesefilmindustryisconsideredtohavecommencedin1913withZhengZhengqiuandZhangShichuan’sfilmTheDifficultCouple.AfledglingindustrybegantodevelopbuttheChinesefilmexperiencecontinuedtobedominatedbyimportedfilms.Duringthe1920s,AmericantechnicianstrainedChineseinShanghai,andAmerica’sinfluencewasfeltforthefollowingtwodecades.
Fouryearsafterthefirst“talkie”,TheJazzSinger,wasproducedintheUnitedStates,thefirstChinese“talkie”wasproducedin1931,TheSongstress,RedPeony,byStarStudio,thelargestoftheproductionstudiosinShanghai.The1930ssawthematuringoftheindustryinChina.InShanghai,anearlycentreofproduction,approximately60filmswereproducedannually.TheinvasionofManchuriabytheJapanesein1931promptedanewwaveoffilmsthatdealtwithresistancetoinvasion,imperialismandfeudalismandaburgeoningsenseofnationalidentity.
TheKeyChangesintheHistoryofChineseFilmIndustry
Theearlyeightiessawtheriseofwhathasbeendubbed“thefifthgenerationoffilmmakers”,filmmakerslikeChenKaige,ZhuangzhuangTian,Jun-ZhaoZheng,ZiniuWu,PingHe,HuangJianxinandZhangYimou,manyofwhomweregraduatesoftheBeijingFilmAcademy.FilmslikeChenKaige’sYellowEarth(1984)andZhangYimou’sRedSorghum(1987)reachedinternationalaudiencesandgainedcriticalacclaimaroundtheworld.InJanuary1986,thefilmindustrywastransferredfromtheMinistryofCulturetothenewlyformedMinistryofRadio,FilmandTelevisiontobringitunder“strictercontrolandmanagement”andto“strengthensupervisionoverproduction”.
Bysomemeasures,thefilmindustrycontinuedtoflourishinthe1990swithmanyfilmsgarnishinginternationalawardsincludingChenKaige’sFarwellMyConcubinewhichsharedthePalmeD’OrattheCannesFilmFestivalwithAustralianJaneCampion’sPianoin1993,ShaohongLi’sBlush(1994),PingHe’sRedFirecrackerGreenFirecracker(1993)andZhangYimou’sRaisetheRedLantern(1991).TheninetiesalsosawtheriseofthelatestwaveofChinesecinemafromtheso-calledsixthgenerationoffilmmakerswiththeworkofdirectorslikeZhangYuan,EastPalaceWestPalace(1996),WanZiaoshuai,BeijingBicycle(2000)andJiaZhangke,UnknownPleasure(2002).
In1990,134ChinesefilmswerereleasedinChina,anumberthatincreasedto146filmsin1995,butdeclinedto91in2000.(Zhao2004)
In1994,theFilmBureauoftheMinistryofRadioFilmandTelevisionadvisedChinahad16featurefilmstudios,sixshortfilmstudios,3animationstudios,anumberofpost-productionfacilitiesandapproximately500televisionstationscomprisinganindustryemploying550,000people.Between1990and1994,approximatelyonefifthoftheannualslateoffeaturefilmswereco-productionsmadewitharangeofcountriesincludingHongKong,Taiwan,Japan,theUnitedStates,FranceandItaly.
However,behindthisoutputandtheinternationalsuccessofmanyofthefifthandsixthgenerationfilmmakerslayanotherstory.Fromthelate1970swhenDengXiaopinglaunchedtheeconomicreformsandopendoorpolicytomodernisethenation,Chinahasundergonemassivechangealbeitwithsomeoccasionalswingsintheoppositedirection.However,comparedwiththeratherrapideconomictakeoffinmanysectors,reforminthefilmindustrywassluggish.
From1979,asindicatedabove,Chinesefilmofficialsre-emphasisedtheimportanceofpoliticsandtheproductionoffilmsthatreflectedtheneedtobeconsistentwiththevaluesofthesocialistspiritualistsocietyofChinaovercommercialandartisticconsiderations.Manyfifthgenerationfilmswerefinancedbythestateandproducedatthestate-ownedstudios,principallytheBeijing,Shanghai,Xi’anandGuangxistudios.Ideologicallyconstrained,thesefilmmakerswerecommerciallyunconstrainedbytheneedtosecurefinanceorrecoverproductioncostsattheboxoffice.Therelativedisregardforartandcommercehaddisastrousconsequencesattheboxoffice.In1979,Chinaproducedonly50filmsbutChinesetheatresattracted27.9billioncustomers.By2001,approximately100filmsattractedonly220millioncinema-goers.
However,thedeclineinactualboxofficerevenuewasnotassteepasthedeclineinaudiences.Nonetheless,in1992,boxofficereceiptstotalledRMB1.99billionbutby1999,receiptshaddroppedtolessthanRMB900millionandtoRMB840by2001.ManyofthefilmsseenbyaudiencesoverseashadyettobeseenonscreensinChina,unabletosatisfytherequirementsofthecensors.FollowingDengXiaoping’s“SouthernTour”inearly1992andthe1992NationalPeople’sCongresscallforanaccelerationofeconomicreform,thefilmindustryfoundcompetitionfromnewsources.Karaokebars,discos,videoparlours–andspirallingvideopiracy–providedintensecompetition.
By1994,“cabarets”hadincreasedfromonetoseveralhundred,therewereatleast200,000karaokebarsand60,000“videoviewingrooms”.Inadditiontoincreasedcompetition,thelowqualityofgovernmentapprovedfilmsandpoordistributionexacerbatedtheproblem.Desperateforasolutionbutunwillingandunabletorelaxideologicalrestrictionsoncontent,limitedreformswereintroducedin1992.ThebansonZhangYimou’sfilmsJudouandRaisetheRedLanternwerelifted.
AlargefilmfestivalwasheldinChangchunatwhichZhangYimou’slatestfilmTheStoryofQiuJuwasawardedbestfilmandthenpreviewedattheGreatHallofthePeople.Butitwasinsufficient.Piratedvideosandlaserdiscsfloodedthemarket.Withinflationrunningat20percentinmajorcities,statesupportwaslessforthcomingparticularlyfrom1996onwards.Theoldstudiosystemgraduallystartedtodisintegrateandfilmmakersstartedturningtoothersourcesoffinance.Anumberofindependentproductioncompaniesemerged,someprivatelyowned,somejointlyownedwithpartnersinHongKongandTaiwan.
Thegovernmentownedstudioscontinuetoproduce“mainmelodyfilms”(zhuxuanlu)–filmsthatreflectthepatrioticprincipleslongespousedbythestate–butindecliningnumberswiththeXi’anstudioproducingonlyfivefilmsin1998.In1998,statecontroloffilm,television,radioandtelecommunicationswasoverhauledandtheStateAdministrationofRadio,FilmandTelevision(SARFT)andMinistryofInformationIndustryestablished.
Whilethestudiosystemcontinuestoday,somesubstantialchangeshaveoccurred.Asfilmscanbemadeindependentlybutnotreleasedwithoutstateapproval,thestudiosareabletosecureanincomestreambysellingtheirbannerstoindependentproductions.ThedramaticpenetrationoftelevisionsetsinChinesehomeshasdrivenaburgeoningdemandforproductandthestudioshavebeenabletoaugmentthecapacityofthenetworkstoproducesoapoperas.Theyhavealsoenteredthemarketproducingtelevisioncommercials.Andincreasinglytheyareco-producingfilmswithotherinvestors.
Bytheendofthenineties,theindustryhaddiversified.Theauteursofthefifthandsixthgenerationwereincreasinglyabletofinancetheirproductionsintheinternationalmarketplace.Mainmelodyfilmscontinuedtobeproducedwithgovernmentfinance.AnewgenerationoffilmmakersturnedtheirattentiontomakinglowbudgetlightcomediesandromancestargetedattheChinesemarketandfinancedbyChineseprivateinvestors.Andfinallydramaticgrowthindemandfortelevisionseriesunderpinstheemploymentofanincreasingnumberoffilmmakerswhowouldhaveotherwisesoughttoproducefeaturefilms.
TheSignificanceofInternationalisationofChineseFilmIndustry
ThemostdramaticchangestotheChinesefilmindustryhavecomeinthewakeofChina’saccessiontotheWorldTradeOrganisation(WTO)on11December2001.WithitsentrancetotheWTOandopeningitsmarketfurther,ChinaisnowendeavouringtodrawaudiencesbacktocinemastoseeChinesefilmsanddosoincompetitionwithHollywoodproductionswhichcurrentlyaccountfor70%ofcinemaboxoffice.Justwhatwillhappeninthenearfutureandinthelongertermislessthanclear.However,sometrendsareemerging.Ontheonehand,ChinahasbeendevelopingblockbusterstocompetewithHollywood.
ZhangYimou’sHero–withitsdramaticvisualeffectsandw